The Rainbow Youth Project USA, a national organization devoted to LGBTQ youth suicide prevention, saw a 238% increase in crisis calls from Oklahoma in the weeks since 16-year-old Nex Benedict died.
Nex, who identified as nonbinary according to family, died on February 8, one day after they told their family that they and a transgender student were involved in a fight with others in a restroom at Owasso High School in Owasso, Oklahoma, CNN previously reported.
Police are still investigating the cause of Nex’s death and it’s unclear if the fight contributed. The US Department of Education also launched an investigation into whether the school district “failed to appropriately respond to alleged harassment,” according to a letter from the department.
The Rainbow Youth Project USA told CNN the organization counsels LGBTQ youth in Oklahoma, fielding an average of 325 calls per month from the state to their hotline.
But in the last two weeks of February 2024, after Nex’s death, that call volume increased by more than 200% to 1,097 calls, according to the organization.
This led the organization to create a rapid response team in Oklahoma simply to handle the volume of calls, particularly from Owasso.
“This increase shows—it reveals the need for these support services and for mental health services and for allies for these young people,” Lance Preston, founder and executive director of the Rainbow Youth Project told CNN.
“We’ve seen a rapid increase in those calls because kids are scared, they are worried and they are hurting,” Preston told CNN, adding that it’s not just kids who are calling.
“I would say, up to 15% of those calls are from concerned parents, who are asking what their rights are under Title IX, what can they do to persuade schools to be more proactive against reports of bullying instead of reactive,” Preston said.
Reaction to Nex’s death and the spike in calls to the Rainbow Youth Project highlight the challenges the LGBTQ community faces in Oklahoma.
In 2022, the state legislature passed a “bathroom bill” requiring students in pre-K through 12th grade public schools to use the restroom and locker rooms matching the sex designated on their birth certificates. Last year, Gov. Kevin Stitt issued an executive order requiring government agencies to identify people according to their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity.
Kris Williams is the program developer and intimate partner violence advocate at the Diversity Center of Oklahoma, a local organization that provides services to LGBTQ youth. Williams told CNN that fear among LGBTQ youth is extremely heightened after Nex’s death.
“The main thing that is on their mind right now is death,” Williams said. “They’re scared; they’re worried. They’re afraid about coming out at home and being rejected and being thrown out on the streets.”
Still, Preston is encouraged that some parents are supporting their LGBTQ children.
“To see parents who are taking that step. It says a lot about the support that some of these kids have. Unfortunately, not all of our kids have that, but it’s good to know that some of them do,” Preston said.
Both Williams and Preston agree that it’s time to turn down the political rhetoric.
“This isn’t going on in everybody’s homes in Oklahoma, this dialect of just, just hate and loathing. We have more support within our communities – within our conservative communities – than people realize,” Williams said.
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