Advocacy Groups Call for Removal of Okla. School Superintendent Following Nex Benedict's Death

More than 350 advocacy groups and LGBTQ+ activists wrote an open letter this week calling for the immediate removal of an Oklahoma state superintendent following the death of Nex Benedict.

Nex, 16, died earlier this month one day after a fight with a group of students the Benedict family alleges were bullying their child. Nex, who used they/them pronouns, was released from the hospital the day of the fight and police later said an autopsy report showed the teenager’s death was not caused by “trauma.”

Now, groups are calling for the immediate removal of Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction Ryan Walters in a letter organized by Freedom Oklahoma, GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, and GLSEN that was sent to PEOPLE and other media outlets on Wednesday.

The groups allege Walters “has a long history of anti-2SLGBTQI+ (two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex+) rhetoric and policies” and they’re calling for an investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Education “to determine what actions and policies have led to a culture where rampant harassment of 2SLGBTQI+ students has been allowed to go unchecked.”

“We are outraged that a climate of hate and bigotry has been not only allowed to thrive, but encouraged by the person who is responsible for education in the state of Oklahoma,” the letter reads. “State officials must be held accountable for bringing the politics of hate into Oklahoma’s schools and making our most vulnerable youth pay the price.”

Walters responded to the letter in a statement to ABC News, calling it a "desperate political game" and accusing the groups of attempting to "exploit the death of a young Oklahoman.”

“I will never stop fighting, I will not play woke gender games, and I will not back down to a woke mob,” the Republican elected official told the outlet.

Nex's death has put a spotlight on bullying and anti-LGBTQ+ violence around the country.

In body cam footage released by the Owasso Police Department, Nex can be seen talking with a police officer while sitting in a hospital bed alongside their mother. Nex explains to the officer that they got into a fight with a group of three girls who were teasing them and another friend over the way they spoke and dressed. 

Nex then said they poured water on the group of girls, who then allegedly attacked Nex. Nex told the officer they had “blacked out” during the fight.

After Owasso police issued the statement saying Nex's death wasn't the result of "trauma" from the fight, the victim's family said in a statement to News on 6 that they would investigate Nex's death themselves.

“The family is independently interviewing witnesses and collecting all available evidence," the Benedicts’ lawyer told the outlet.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

On Monday, students at Owasso High School walked out of their classrooms in support of Nex and the school’s LGBTQ+ community, according to ABC News.

“Nobody deserves to be bullied because they are seen as ‘other,’” the Trans Advocacy Coalition of Oklahoma, which helped organize the walkout, said in a social media post about the protest. “All students deserve a healthy learning environment free of discrimination, harassment, and bullying from other students, school staff, and policy makers.”