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The Division of Training is opening an investigation into whether or not the Oklahoma college district the place the late 16-year-old transgender scholar Nex Benedict attended highschool did not appropriately reply to sex-based harassment, in accordance with a letter obtained by NBC Information on Friday.
The letter was addressed to the Human Rights Marketing campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ rights group, which had filed a grievance with the division following Benedict’s Feb. 8 demise.
Benedict died a day after participating in a combat with three different college students in a college lavatory at Owasso Excessive College, in a case that has drawn intense media consideration and condemnation from LGBTQ advocates around the globe.
In its grievance, the HRC referred to as on the Division of Training to research the district for failing “to handle the discrimination and harassment to which Nex was subjected” and to find out whether or not the district violated Title IX, a landmark civil rights legislation that protects folks from gender-based discrimination in education schemes funded by the federal authorities.
“This letter is to inform you that the U.S. Division of Training, Workplace for Civil Rights (OCR), is opening for investigation the above-referenced grievance that you just filed in opposition to the Owasso Public Colleges (the District),” Karen E. Mines, the Training Division’s chief lawyer, wrote in a letter to the HRC. “Your grievance alleges that the District discriminated in opposition to college students by failing to reply appropriately to sex-based harassment, of which it had discover, at Owasso Excessive College through the 2023-2024 college 12 months.”
Mines added that the division might be investigating whether or not the district did not appropriately reply to alleged harassment of scholars “in a way according to the necessities of Title IX.”
Brock Crawford, a spokesperson for Owasso Public Colleges, confirmed in an electronic mail that the district obtained discover of the Training Division’s investigation and pushed again on the allegations.
“The district is dedicated to cooperating with federal officers and believes the grievance submitted by HRC is just not supported by the info and is with out advantage,” Crawford mentioned.
The Training Division didn’t return a request for remark.
It’s nonetheless unclear what brought about Benedict’s demise and whether or not or not Benedict’s combat with three different excessive schoolers performed a job in his demise.
In physique digital camera footage from a police officer’s interview with Benedict on Feb. 7, the day of the combat, Benedict may be heard telling the officer that three college students attacked him within the lavatory. The teenager additionally mentioned he threw water on the scholars previous to the combat, as a result of that they had bullied him and his associates for the way in which they dressed.
“Nex’s household, neighborhood, and the broader 2SLGBTQI+ (two spirit, lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex+) neighborhood in Oklahoma are nonetheless awaiting solutions following their tragic loss,” Kelley Robinson, the HRC’s president, mentioned in a press release Friday night. “We respect the Division of Training responding to our grievance and opening an investigation–we want them to behave urgently so there may be justice for Nex, and so that each one college students at Owasso Excessive College and each college in Oklahoma may be protected from bullying, harassment, and discrimination.”
