On February 7th, Nex was attacked in the women's restrooms of their high school in Owasso, Oklahoma, by a group of older girls. Nex's grandmother, who is raising them, told The Independent that the school called her to come pick up Nex. At the school, she was informed that Nex had been suspended for two weeks.

"Nex had bruises and scratches on their head," she said. Nex was allegedly beaten so hard that they fell to the ground. However, the school did not call an ambulance or the police, so it was up to her to take Nex to the hospital.

The next day, Nex suddenly collapsed in their living room. By the time emergency services arrived, Nex was not breathing. They passed away shortly after arriving at the hospital.

In a statement, the Owasso police said they are "conducting a very active and thorough investigation into the events that led to the student's death." According to LGBT+ organisations, this is clearly a hate crime.

Nex's guardian told The Independent: "So many people expect children to be one thing. You have to let them find themselves and let them be who they are." She continued: "Society needs to see them as they are. Accept them and move on, because we are all human beings."

Nex has since been buried. A fundraiser has raised over $48,000, with the majority being donated to LGBT+ organisations.

Libs of TikTok

It is noteworthy that Nex's school had previously been in the news due to a discussion about gender identity. A teacher was fired for supporting students in accepting their gender identity. He allegedly told the class, "If your parents don't accept who you are... fuck them." This statement was picked up by an extremely conservative TikTok account called Libs of TikTok. Due to the controversy caused by the video, the teacher had to leave. According to Nex's guardian, Nex was very upset about the dismissal of their favourite teacher.