The Department of Education has opened an investigation into the death of 16-year-old "nonbinary" Oklahoma high school student Nex Benedict, who died the day after a fight in a school bathroom, according to The Hill.
The Office for Civil Rights alerted the Human Rights Campaign to the investigation, which seeks to determine if Owasso Public Schools failed to respond to the alleged "sex-based harassment" that may have contributed to Benedict's death. HRC President Kelley Robinson sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting an investigation.
"We are deeply concerned about the failure of Owasso High School to address documented instances of bullying, violence, and harassment against Nex, which occurred in earnest over the course of the previous school year and were in violation of Nex's rights under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972," Robinson wrote in her letter to Cardona.
"We therefore urge the Department to urgently investigate whether Owasso High School unlawfully failed to address the discrimination and harassment to which Nex was subjected," she continued. "In addition, we call upon the Department to conduct a Title IX compliance investigation for Owasso High School."
While the police investigation is ongoing, Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters pushed back against those trying to politicize Benedict's death.
"I think it's terrible that we've had some radical leftist who decided to run with a political agenda and try to weave a narrative that hasn't been true," Walter said in an interview with The New York Times. "You've taken a tragedy, and you've had some folks try to exploit it for political gain."
"We've been told death wasn't directly related to the fight at school," he said.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.