2-spirit and Indigiqueer communities mourn non-binary teen's death in Oklahoma

Members of the two-spirit, Indigiqueer, and Indigenous transgender communities are mourningthe death of a non-binary 16-year-old teen in Oklahoma earlier this month.

Nex Benedict diedthe day aftera violent confrontation in a high school bathroom in Owasso, Okla., near Tulsa.Owasso police said in a statement preliminary autopsy results indicate the teen did not die as a result of injuries sustained in the fight.

Benedict's mother is enrolled with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma andthe school where the incident took place is located within the Cherokee Nation reservation. Benedict'sfamily saidBenedict experienced bullying from their classmates due to their gender identity.

Thestory has sparked cross-border reaction from 2SLGBTQ+community members, reflecting on their own experiences as well as the current climate for Indigenous youth.

"Many of us are in mourning," said Jade Lacosse, an Anishinaabeand adopted Tlingit two-spirit trans woman in Whitehorse.

"This was a young child that very few of us were directly connected to but they're still a relative, they are still a two-spirit relative in the way that our community sees things. Something that affects one of us affects all of us."

Lacosse saidthe statement from police appears to beabout placing blame rather than taking responsibility for discrimination.

"A young two-spirit child, one of our relations, died and it's a direct result of transphobia," Lacosse said.

"The way that they died doesn't change that."

Shawnee Kish, a Mohawk two-spirit singer-songwriter and activist, said it's "horribly sad."

"There's a 16-year-old young person that should have lived an entire life and now doesn't get the chance to," Kish said.

Kish, whose mother is from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, saidwhat happened to Nex hits close to home.

Kish said thatshe received several messages after posting Nex's story on social media, some from other Indigenous people denying the existence of two-spirit people currently and pre-colonially.

"It's hard to know that that mentality, belief system, that hate still exists and it's very very strong," she said.

LacieBurning, a Mohawk interdisciplinary artist from Six Nations of the Grand River, saidthat the incident happening on reserve is the result of colonial violence.

"It's just a continuation of the lateral violence that every one of our community members has also gone through," said Burning.

"If you're not cis-hetero, then you're kind of always just going to be the odd one out."

Chantale Garand, who isMtisand an activist in Winnipeg, said it was important for them to share Nex's story on social media because these incidents are not specific to the United States.

"It's happening here," said Garand.

"I've also had violence enacted against me for my identity."

TheCenter for Native American Youth said in an online statement, "The lack of immediate action by school leadership shows a pervasive, country-wide ambivalence to the safety of our non-binary and LGBTQ2S+ youth."

TheU.S.education and advocacy organization that aims toimprove thehealth, safety, and overall well-being of Indigenous youth, released several calls to action in an online statement in response to Benedict's death, including implementing anti-bullying education in classrooms andactionable consequences for gender and orientation violence within schools.

Lacossealso shared a message about taking action.

"Protect trans youth, it's not just a slogan."