The Death of Nex Benedict
The death of Nex Benedict has brought to light the struggles many youths in the LGBTQ community face daily. She was a 16-year-old who died by suicide, according to the autopsy that was released on Wednesday by the state office of the chief medical examiner.
The full report will be officially released on March 27. It had to be very painful for her community to lose someone like her.
What Group She Was Part of
She was nonbinary and went by they/them pronouns. She was a part of the 2SLGBTQ community. According to her family, 2SLGBTQ includes two spirits, which is used to describe a third gender in native and indigenous communities. Her mother, Sue Benedict, is a registered member of Choctaw Nation.
What Her Death is Doing for Others Similar to Her
Her death is causing a lot of attention because of what happened to her before she took her own life. Her death is making people more aware of the stress that comes with being a part of the LGBTQ community. Not only has the president talked about it. But many talk shows and other famous people have chimed in on the death of Nex Benedict. Which has only drawn more awareness. To them so the bullying and mental health has stopped.
What This Does for the LGBTQ Community
President Joe Biden came out with a statement about the issue. A group called Freedom Oklahoma has come out and said her death highlights the attacks on transgender and gender non-conforming communities. A lot of people in a community like that are under attack or are at risk in schools. Many politicians care about other things rather than children’s lives.
Why This is Getting So Much Attention
People like Joe Biden, the current President of the United States, and his wife Jill, made comments and were deeply saddened about her death. This incident has brought awareness towards the people that are trans or are LGBTQ. “They are getting more support from others,” stated President Biden.
How Nex’s Death made the Community get awareness and help
The president closed his message by telling LGBTQ youth that they can call or text 988, the National Crisis Hotline, and dial the number “3” to talk to a counselor who has been specifically trained to support LGBTQ youth.
How Her Death Changes Things
Her death changes things because it’s making the world be more supportive and has made countless people talk about this and the issue the community is facing, which is mental health. Before her death, Nex Benedict did not have anyone to talk to about what was going on during that day.
Her friends said she was getting bullied and got into a fight that same day. Therefore, many things could have been different if she had gotten someone to talk to about the situation.
What This Changes
If more people were to start figuring out why we just lost someone to a suicide, then the higher ups, or the people that have power in the world, could help change this depending on how bad it got. Joe Biden hasn’t solved this issue but is doing his best to make it better by giving them a number to call and trained professionals to talk to about these types of issues.
This issue has caused lots of commotion, but it has only been positive for the community. The only negative was someone dying, because they weren’t able to talk to someone about what was going on in their life. The death of teen Nex Benedict lets other people know that the LGBTQ community goes through a lot, which is why people are making comments about this to help the community, so this doesn’t happen again.
The Takeaways from Nex Benedict’s Death
LGBTQ youth face a disproportionate risk of suicide, according to research. A 2022 survey of about 28,000 LGBTQ young people conducted by The Trevor Project. It took an innocent person dying for the world/people with the most power to want to stop seeing the same thing over and over again. The LGBTQ community is getting more awareness so they can prevent people from discriminating against them. That way, they can be themselves without having to worry.
Written by Demyer Anthony
Sources:
NBC: Biden issues statement on death of LGBTQ teen Nex Benedict, drawing attention to suicide crisis
Them: “Heartbroken”: President Biden Issues Statement on the Death of Nex Benedict
ABC: LGBTQ teen Nex Benedict died by suicide, medical examiner says
Featured Image Courtesy of librarypaula’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Eric Garcetti’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
