Thread by @JuddLegum

1. Nex Benedict matters

Nex was a 16-year-old and non-binary

Nex was brutally beaten a high school bathroom in Oklahoma

The school did not call an ambulance or the police

Instead, Nex was suspended

Nex died the next day

2. Nex had been bullied at school

But there are no definitive answers on the cause of Nex's death or the motivation for the assault

We do know Nex's death coincided concerted effort in Oklahoma to vilify and stigmatize trans & non-binary people

popular.info/p/nex-benedict…

3. Oklahoma’s top education official, @RyanWaltersSupt (R), has instituted a number of policies targeting trans and non-binary students

“It is the most radical concept we’ve ever come across in K-12 education, that you can be gender fluid,” Walters said last month.

@RyanWaltersSupt 4. In December, Walters announced a rule prohibiting “school districts and local schools from altering sex or gender designations in past student records,” even with parental consent.

It is one of many measures Walters put into place targeting trans and non-binary youth.

@RyanWaltersSupt 5. Walters has also enlisted the help of right-wing extremist @ChayaRaichik10. Raichik runs the X account @libsoftiktok, which routinely promotes anti-LGBTQ propaganda to its 2.8 million followers.

Raichik’s posts have inspired violent threats, including bomb threats

@RyanWaltersSupt @ChayaRaichik10 @libsoftiktok 6. In January, Walters appointed Raichik to serve on the Oklahoma Library Media Advisory Committee.

Raichik does not have a professional background in education and has never worked as a librarian. She is a former real estate agent.

She lives in New York, not Oklahoma.

@RyanWaltersSupt @ChayaRaichik10 @libsoftiktok 7. Raichik’s appointment came after she repeatedly targeted students and teachers in OK. In April 2022, Raichik singled out Tyler Wrynn, a teacher from the Owasso School District — the same district that Nex attended — for supporting LGBTQ+ students.

popular.info/p/nex-benedict…