On Feb. 7, 2024, Nex Benedict, a transgender, Two-Spirit teen of Choctaw descent, was assaulted in their high school’s bathroom by three girls who had reportedly been bullying them and their friends for the way they were laughing. Benedict went to bed with head pain following the altercation and their mother rushed them to the hospital after they later collapsed. They were pronounced dead on Feb. 8.
Umbrellas
A pair of unlikely friends caught in the pouring rain unpack a girl’s perhaps undeserved reputation.
Do Progressive High Schools Facilitate Queer Joy?
In the fall, I discussed how internalized homophobia produced complicated feelings about my old middle school’s increasingly progressive attitudes towards queer identities and rising numbers of “out” queer students. I unpacked my slight resentment toward those queer students, who seem to have an easier time exploring their queer identities out in the open since they exist in a less oppressive environment.
