In his three years as state superintendent of Oklahoma’s public schools, Ryan Walters, a former high school history teacher, has transformed himself into one of the most strident culture warriors in a state known for its strident conservative politics.

Following the death earlier this month of a 16-year-old nonbinary student a day after an altercation in a high school girls’ bathroom, gay and transgender advocates accused Mr. Walters of fomenting an atmosphere of dangerous intolerance within public schools.

In his first interview following the death of the student, Nex Benedict, Mr. Walters told The New York Times that the death was a tragedy but that it did not change his views on how gender issues should be handled in schools.

“There are not multiple genders. There are two. That is how God created us,” Mr Walters said, saying he did not believe non-binary or transgender people exist. He said Oklahoma schools would not allow students to use preferred names or pronouns that differ from their birth gender.

“You always treat individuals with dignity and respect because they are made in God’s image,” Mr Walters said. “But that doesn’t change the truth.”

Mr. Walters, who is ultimately in charge of Oklahoma’s public schools and has been discussed as a possible candidate for higher office, has been one of the loudest voices in the state seeking to prevent the discussion and promotion of LGBTQ issues in schools. His fellow Republicans in the Legislature have supported a wave of new and proposed laws targeting gay and transgender people.

In interviews, transgender students said the rhetoric from officials like Mr. Walters was seen by their classmates as permission to harass and bully them at school.

And at an Oklahoma board of education meeting this week, Sean Cummings, the vice mayor of a city adjacent to Oklahoma City known as The Village, blamed the board’s anti-gay and anti-transgender policies for Nex’s bullying. “You caused it,” he said, addressing Mr. Walters directly.

Questions remained about the bullying that family members said Nex experienced at Owasso High School before the restroom altercation on Feb. 7, and what connection it might have had to their deaths. Police said on Wednesday that Nex did not die from trauma, a finding Mr Walters reiterated.

“We were told the death was not directly related to the fight at the school,” he said, cautioning that the investigation was ongoing.

Nick Boatman, a spokesman for the Owasso Police Department, said investigators were reviewing video footage from the high school and planned to release it “at some point.” Investigators, he said, had yet to determine what caused the student’s death.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president of advocacy group GLAAD, called the death “a tragic, senseless and shocking attack that should never be forgotten.” an Instagram post this week.

Mr Walters said the tragedy was made worse by outside advocates trying to make a political point.

“I think it’s terrible that we’ve had some radical leftists who decided to follow a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn’t been true,” he said. “You’ve experienced a tragedy, and some people have tried to exploit it for political gain.”

Officers conducted interviews with students and staff at Owasso High School. The school district has said the altercation lasted less than two minutes and the students involved were then able to walk to a nurse’s office.

A police report was only filed after Nex was taken to a hospital by a family member, police said. They went home that day. The next day, Nex was rushed to hospital by local doctors and pronounced dead. The state medical examiner’s office declined to comment on the autopsy or any toxicology results, but said the final report would eventually be made public.

Much of the criticism Mr. Walters has received has focused on his recent appointment of Chaya Raichik to a state commission. Ms. Raichik, who has posted anti-gay and anti-transgender content on her X account, Libs of TikTok, is part of a committee that reviews the suitability of school library books. “Ryan Walters has created a devastatingly hostile environment for transgender, two-spirit and gender-nonconforming students,” said Nicole McAfee, executive director of Freedom Oklahoma, which advocates for transgender and gay rights. Since Nex’s death, they said: “More times than I can count, I’ve seen people share an image that Ryan Walters put forward during his campaign of people in a bathroom with language that specifically villainizes trans youth.”

But for years, Walters, 38, has been an unapologetic lightning rod in Oklahoma, launching direct verbal attacks on school districts, teachers unions and sometimes individual teachers he accused of promoting “pornography” or “radical gender theory.” public schools. He was appointed state inspector by Gov. Kevin Stitt in 2020 and went on to win election for a new term in 2022.

He has, among other things, pressured teachers in several districts to resign a teacher who protested against the ban on certain booksand a primary school principal who performed in drag outside of school.

Such an aggressively partisan approach surprised some of Mr. Walters’ former students, many of whom admired him as an approachable teacher who valued debate. “Walters would go out of his way to be apolitical,” said Shane Hood, who took at least three history classes with Mr. Walters at McAlester High School. As a teacher, Mr. Hood said, he gave few indications of his political views, other than showing large cutouts of Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan.

“He was probably a favorite at school,” said Mr. Hood, 22, adding that Mr. Walters’ current political persona did not match the teacher he knew.

Mr.’s public battles Walters emerged as conservative states across the country passed laws restricting the rights of transgender people. In Oklahoma, lawmakers have banned gender transition care for minors expressly prohibited the use of gender-neutral markings on birth certificates.

The Oklahoma Legislature is currently considering a bill to ban residents from changing their gender designation on birth certificates, and another bill to require public schools to adopt the policy that gender is an “immutable biological trait” and to ban the use of alternative preferred names or ban pronouns. Another proposal, known as the Patriotism, not a Pride Actwould prevent government agencies from displaying flags or symbols in support of gays and transgender people.

“It’s just incredibly harmful,” said Whitney Cipolla, a board member of Oklahomans for Equality, which advocates for gay and transgender rights. “I know queer educators who are afraid to teach.”

In interviews, transgender and non-binary teens in Oklahoma said the political climate had made things more difficult for them.

“There are a lot of feelings of helplessness,” said Hali, 18, a transgender girl and high school senior in the city of Claremore, who asked that her last name not be used for fear she could be targeted by anti-transgender activists. . “You always have a little fear that you could be attacked, that you could be one of the victims.”

Hali said she knew Nex after meeting them as part of a program in Tulsa that provides counseling and other assistance to young people, including those who are gay or transgender. Nex was “very nice and outgoing and a very sweet person,” Hali said, but added that she did not know much about the altercation that preceded Nex’s death.

When asked how Oklahoma schools should treat students who identify as transgender, Mr. Walters said the schools would “continue to treat every student with dignity and respect” but would not “buy into the transgender ideology by doing all this principles to accept’ and teachers to adopt them.

Mr. Walters, who described himself as a lover and reader of history, said he saw the nation at something of a crossroads.

“I really see that there is a civil war going on, where the left is really fighting for the soul of our country,” he said. “They undermine the very principles that made this country great, our Judeo-Christian values ​​and our traditions in this country.”

Returning to those values ​​and traditions, he added, “that is what will unite us.”

Kirsten Noyes research contributed.

Americans are deeply divided over whether gender identity should be taught in school, according to two polls released this week that underscored the extent of the divide on one of the most contentious topics in education.

Many groups, including Democrats, teachers and teens, are divided over whether schools should teach about gender identity — the internal sense of one's own gender and whether it aligns with the sex assigned at birth, a study by researchers shows from the University of Southern California and a separate study by Pew Research Center.

But on issues of race, another issue that has fueled state restrictions and book bans, there was broader support for education. That was also true for some Republicans, the USC survey found.

The results highlight nuances in opinion on two of the most divisive issues in public education, even as the American public remains deeply polarized along party lines.

The USC survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of nearly 4,000 adults, about half of whom lived with at least one school-age child, and responses reflected partisan affiliation.

Democrats generally supported LGBTQ education in schools, but were divided when it came to addressing transgender issues for younger students in elementary school.

Fewer than half of Democrats surveyed supported teaching about gender identity in elementary school, or using a transgender student's pronouns at that age without asking parents. About a third of Democrats supported assigning a book about a nonbinary author's personal experiences to elementary school students.

But for high school students, a large majority of Democrats supported teaching these and other LGBTQ topics.

Republicans strongly opposed teaching transgender topics at all grade levels. They expressed increased support, especially for older students, for teaching issues surrounding same-sex marriage, which was legalized nationwide in 2015. Nearly half of Republicans supported allowing a high school teacher to display a photo of a same-sex spouse on their desk. For example.

Republicans showed a similar pattern on issues of discussions about race, with more support for teaching these topics to older students.

A majority of respondents – including a majority of Republicans – supported teaching the following topics in high school: slavery as the main cause of the Civil War, discussing the ways some white Americans resisted the civil rights movement , and exploring the causes of racial wealth disparities. There was less support among Republicans for teaching more modern concepts, such as authorizing a book about the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager, or discussing the use of race in college admissions.

The two issues — teaching race and history, and addressing LGBTQ issues and gender identity in schools — have often gone hand-in-hand in political debates, with conservative lawmakers seeking to limit what schools can do and liberal politicians to defend and sometimes require instruction.

Still, the results are the latest to indicate that the American public may have more complex views on the issues, with opinions varying depending on the scenario and the age of the students involved.

State laws don't always reflect the diversity of opinion, even within a state's majority party, in part because statehouses are increasingly partisan, with fewer swing districts, said Eric Plutzer, a professor of political science and polling director at the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. , who was not involved in the new studies.

“We are in a period where public opinion in general is probably less important than the opinion of grassroots and primary voters” for both parties, he said. “That's an important context for understanding this.”

The Pew survey examined the views of teachers and teenage students and found that they too are deeply divided over whether schools should teach about gender identity.

Half of teachers – including 62 percent of primary school teachers – said gender identity should not be taught, according to the survey, which included about 2,500 primary and secondary school teachers. Those who supported gender identity education were more likely to teach older students in middle and high school and were more likely to identify as Democrats.

(Overall, 58 percent of teachers identified with or leaned toward the Democratic Party, and 35 percent identified or leaned toward the Republicans, according to Pew — a more liberal population than Americans overall, who are about evenly split.)

Similarly, about half of the 1,400 teens surveyed by Pew said they didn't think they should learn about gender identity in school. That view was more likely to be held by teens who identified or leaned Republican, but was also embraced by more than a third of teens who were more liberal.

About one in 10 teens surveyed said racism and racial inequality had never been discussed in their classes. Slightly more – 14 percent – ​​said the same about sexual orientation and gender identity.

A member of the Utah State Board of Education was stripped of her committee assignments and asked to resign this week after questioning the gender of a high school basketball player in a Facebook post.

Natalie Cline, the board member, posted a flyer for a Salt Lake County high school basketball team on Feb. 6 with the caption “Basketball for girls”, suggesting that one of the girls in the image was not female. The message, which was reported by KSL TV, a television station in Salt Lake City, has since been removed.

The board said Wednesday that, after an investigation, it had decided to censure Ms. Cline, request her resignation and ban her from attending board committee meetings because she disrespected students' privacy and publicly exposed them in a negative light. The Utah Legislature passed a resolution Thursday against Ms. Cline for her “abhorrent actions' that had resulted in 'relentless intimidation and bullying, including threats of violence' against a student.

The parents of the child targeted in the post, Al and Rachel van der Beek, wrote in an editorial in The Salt Lake Tribune Thursday that Mrs. Cline had subjected their 16-year-old daughter to “unwarranted and cruel public ridicule.”

Ms. Cline's social media post sparked “a barrage of hateful and despicable comments directed at our daughter that lasted more than sixteen hours,” Mr. and Mrs. Van der Beek wrote. “It was one of the most painful things we have had to endure as we read comment after comment about unwarranted judgment, ignorance and hatred by adults and parents who hid behind their computers and bullied our child.” Ms. Cline's conduct would be “unjustified” even if it were based on facts, they wrote, even if it were not.

Mr. and Mrs. Van der Beek wrote that their daughter was “naturally strong and athletic and worked very hard to become the top scorer on her team this year.”

They continued, “She is beautiful, happy, friendly, kind, smart and has the biggest heart.”

Several state legislatures have become more hostile toward transgender people in recent years, passing laws aimed at limiting their access to health care, bathroom access and participation in school sports. More than 425 bills aimed at restricting the rights of LGBTQ people are being considered by state lawmakers, This is reported by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The increased attention to transgender issues, a political and cultural flashpoint in the United States, has put transgender people in the spotlight, with some reporting increased levels of harassment and discomfort. In January, Governor Spencer Cox of Utah, a Republican, signed a bill banning transgender people from using bathrooms, shower rooms or locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity, with some exceptions. Last year, Governor Cox signed a bill banning minors from receiving gender transition health care, including puberty suppressant medications, surgery and other medically accepted treatments.

In a survey of more than 92,000 transgender and non-binary Americans in late 2022, nearly a third of respondents said they had been verbally harassed in the past year, and 3 percent of respondents said they had been physically assaulted in the past year because of their behavior. gender identity.

Ms. Cline, who was elected to the board in 2020, did not respond to a request for comment early Friday. In a sequel Facebook post on February 8, she apologized for “the negative attention” her post attracted.

“We live in strange times when it is normal to pause and wonder if people are what they say they are because of the push to normalize transgenderism in our society,” Ms. Cline wrote in that post . She added that the student she referred to “had a larger build, just like her parents.”

The Utah School Board of Education apologized to the student. “No individual, and especially no child, should be subjected to such comments and judgments,” the board statement said. Mrs. Cline, in a letter posted on Facebook claimed Wednesday that the board's investigation was rushed and deprived it of “a fair process for dealing with allegations.”

The Utah House resolution was signed by Governor Cox on Thursday. “The vast majority of Utahns agree that Natalie Cline's conduct was unacceptable,” he wrote in a statement. “I have spoken to the student's parents and I am heartbroken for this family.”

The New York City Council last week required police officers to record the race, age and gender of most people they approach. That overrode Mayor Eric Adams' veto and introduced a law that supporters say will provide a more complete picture of who officers stop during investigations.

The law, known as the How Many Stops Act, is intended to improve police data collection efforts and prevent unlawful encounters with youth of color and other abuse.

Mr. Adams objects to a section of the legislation that requires officers to record their observations of residents they approach for law enforcement purposes, including asking a person to assist in locating a fleeing suspect or a missing person.

The mayor has said police will follow the law, which comes into effect in July. Here's a closer look at what it aims to achieve and how it could impact police and the public:

What does the law do?

The law requires officials to collect and share a wide range of information about low-level interactions with members of the public.

According to the police patrol guide, there are three levels of interaction that take place during “investigative encounters.”

Level 1 is requesting information from a person who is not a suspect. The individual is under no obligation to respond to such requests.

“The person may refuse to answer questions,” the patrol guide says, “or walk or even run away.”

Level 2 is when an officer begins to suspect that a person has committed a crime. Similar to a Level 1 interaction, the officer can ask what someone saw, their name and address, and where they are from. Officers can ask someone they consider a suspect to consent to a search. As with a Level 1 interaction, the person can walk away and refuse to answer questions.

Level 3 arrests occur when police have a stronger suspicion that someone has committed a crime. In such cases, the patrol guide says, an officer may use “reasonable force” to stop a person, ask “incriminating” questions and search the person “if the officer has reasonable suspicion that the person is armed and is dangerous'.

Police already have a federal obligation to collect and share detailed information about Level 3 stops. The new law requires them to provide similar information for Level 1 and Level 2 checks, including the reason for each investigation, demographics about the person being stopped and why the stop was made.

The information would be permanently stored and accessible to the public on the department's website.

The law does not require officers to keep detailed records of informal conversations, such as greeting people on the street or giving directions.

Why do supporters say it is necessary?

In 2013, a federal judge ruled that the police practice of stop and frisk people was unconstitutional and targeted people of color, particularly young black and Latino men and teenagers.

A supervisor was appointed to ensure the practice ended, but in June the supervisor reported that the department's anti-crime units were still unlawfully stopping too many people.

Supporters of the law also cited the department's history of underreporting and misclassification of arrests.

Jumaane Williams, the city's public advocate and sponsor of the legislation, said it would help “curb the abuse of stop, question and frisk.”

Many young people have complained of being approached by police as they walked through public housing projects or exiting the subway, making them feel like police viewed them as criminals, advocates of the law said. They are also unlikely to know that they are not required to stop under Level 1 or even Level 2 guidelines.

“When accurate data is available, we as policymakers are equipped with the information needed to craft and implement policy solutions,” Councilmember Yusef Salaam, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said Tuesday.

Mr. Salaam, a newly elected councilor who was wrongly convicted in 1990 as a member of the Central Park Five, was stopped by a police officer last month while driving with his family. The officer let him go, but Mr Salaam said he had given a reason for the stop. The meeting, he said, showed why the new law was needed.

Supporters of the law say police could capture the newly needed data using the same smartphone app they already use it to log other encounters, and that shouldn't take more than 30 seconds. They said officers don't have to record the information right away; they can do it at the end of a shift or an investigation.

Why do the police and the mayor object?

Police say their main argument against the new law is the requirement that Level 1 interactions be recorded in detail. According to the police, the problem is that so many arrests take place in this category and that they take place under circumstances that are fluid and fast.

In 2022, officers recorded more than 3.2 million videos classified as Level 1 encounters, Michael Clarke, the department's legal director, told the City Council at a hearing last March.

Edward Caban, the police commissioner, cited the example of a missing person when reporters asked him about the legislation on Wednesday. Mr. Caban asked whether an officer should be expected to record demographics as critical seconds pass.

“What are you going to do?” he said. “Are you going to ask everyone you come into contact with?”

During the debate on the bill, police said released a three-minute video described as a 'simulation' conditions under the new law. The video showed a young female officer trying to help a mother find a missing child. The officer looks beleaguered and stressed as she records the details of all her encounters with witnesses and later, as she sits at her desk, trying to complete her paperwork, as a 911 call comes in.

Reporting the information after an investigation or service could result in excessive overtime payments, Commissioner Caban said.

By law, officials are not required to ask about a person's age, race, or gender; In general, they will have to record their answers based on observation. This approach to data collection is inherently flawed, John Chell, the head of the patrol that oversees the rank and file, said during an interview with reporters on Wednesday.

“When we talk about transparency, I don't understand what that means if I have to guess your race, gender and age,” he said.

What comes next?

Police have about five months to come up with rules and technology to put the law into practice.

Commissioner Caban said he understood public concerns about low-level officers' interactions with youth of color and said he was willing to “come to the table” with the City Council to reach a consensus on that issue.

Adrienne Adams, chair of the council, said there would be no changes to the law, but she and Mr Williams said they welcomed the opportunity to discuss how the law would be implemented.

Mr Salaam said the department would have “significant flexibility” in implementing the law.

“The NYPD has already found ways to conduct reporting without interfering with other duties, and there is no reason why the reporting required by this law cannot be done in the same way,” he said.