Student’s death shines new light on LGBTQ+ policies in Oklahoma schools

The week in extremism, from USA TODAY.

The death of a transgender student after a fight at an Oklahoma school has placed new focus on the state’s hostile stance toward LGBTQ+ people. Meanwhile, a government report finds that social media and gaming companies continue to host extremist propaganda and recruitment efforts. And extremism is a top concern for voters, according to a new nationwide poll.

It’s the week in extremism.  

Student’s death shines light on Oklahoma’s treatment of LGBTQ+ community

Nex Benedict, a teenager from the Tulsa, Oklahoma, suburb of Owasso, died earlier this month, a day after they were involved in a fight in a high school bathroom. Nex, who used he/him and they/them pronouns, identified as gender expansive, an umbrella term that describes people whose gender identity expands beyond traditional gender norms, according to the National Institutes of Health. 

While it remains unclear whether the fight contributed to Nex’s death, the case has placed new focus on Oklahoma’s treatment of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Several students in Owasso told The Oklahoman they had experienced bullying because of their gender identities and sexualities. “I was bullied pretty much every day, consistently,” said Ren Stolas, 20, who is transgender. “That’s why this hurts a little extra.”  

• On Wednesday, 350 local, state and national organizations sent an open letter to senior officials at the Oklahoma State Legislature calling for the removal of state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, who they say has been hostile towards the state’s LGBTQ+ community.
• Last month, Walters appointed Chaya Raichik, the far-right influencer whose controversial posts have preceded dozens of bomb and death threats, to a statewide library advisory board. That move had sparked outrage from the LGBTQ+ community. 
• As USA TODAY reported, Raichik does not meet the state’s own basic requirements for the position. In an interview with a Washington reporter last weekend, Raichik acknowledged she has only been to Oklahoma once, and shed no new light on her qualifications for the state position. 
• The open letter also calls for an investigation into the Oklahoma Department of Education, “to determine what actions and policies have led to a culture where rampant harassment” of gay and trans students. 

Police officials have said in a statement that Nex’s death was not the result of injuries from a fight, adding that the findings were preliminary and investigations by the medical examiner’s office and the police department remain under way. 

Report: Gaming sites, social media ‘often used’ by domestic terrorists

A report released this week by the Government Accountability Office concludes that domestic terrorists often use social media and online gaming sites to spread propaganda and “to radicalize, recruit, and mobilize” people online.

• The FBI identified lone offenders and small groups who have been radicalized online and commit violence over political grievances as “one of the most significant terrorism threats” facing the country, the report says.
• While the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have mechanisms to share information about extremists on social media and gaming sites, “neither agency has developed a strategy that articulates how it identifies and selects companies to engage with or the goals and desired outcomes of those engagements.” 
• The report’s primary recommendation: To develop just such a strategy. The FBI should should share information related to domestic violent extremism with social media and gaming companies, the GAO said.

Poll: Extremism top concern for voters

The primary concern to U.S. voters currently is political extremism/threats to democracy, according to a new nationwide Reuters/Ipsos poll.

• 21% of respondents to the three-day poll said extremism was their top priority, while 19% said it was the economy and 18% said immigration. Crime and corruption (7%) and war and foreign conflicts (5%) were far behind.
• Democrats mostly named extremism as their top concern, while Republicans overwhelmingly chose immigration.
• The majority of Americans (71%) told pollsters the country is on the wrong track, and only 13% said it is heading in the right direction. 

Statistic of the week: At least 17

That’s how many people were killed by domestic extremists in 2023, according to a report released late last week by the Anti-Defamation League. The number of fatalities is down from 2022, in which domestic extremists killed 27 people, per the ADL.  

Will Carless is a national correspondent covering extremism and emerging issues. Contact him at wcarless@usatoday.com. Follow him on X @willcarless.