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The educator and father advocated for transgender kids like Nex Benedict to be able to go to school without being bullied.
Chasten Buttigieg is not backing down as he continues to call attention to the anti-LGBTQ+ atmosphere of bullying that contributed to the death of Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict. In an evocative lecture at Michigan State University’s Department of Theatre, Buttigieg, a fervent advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, shared his insights into the challenging landscape facing LGBTQ+ people, particularly youth. With a personal connection to the struggles within the LGBTQ+ community, on Saturday, the husband of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg illuminated the intersections of politics, theater, and activism.
Reflecting on the story of Benedict, a 16-year-old Indigenous transgender sophomore at Owasso High School who died under distressing circumstances, Buttigieg underscored the systemic failures that contribute to such tragedies.
“It takes a lot of people to fail a child like that,” Buttigieg said, pointing to the broader societal neglect faced by vulnerable LGBTQ+ youth, Michigan Advancereports.
Benedict was assaulted in a school bathroom February 7 and died on February 8 after being seen and released at a hospital the previous day. A one-page summary autopsy report released by the Oklahoma Chief Medical Examiner’s Office last week indicated that Benedict died from toxicity of a combination of medications. The death was categorized as suicide, but Benedict’s family and skeptical advocates caution against drawing conclusions before the release of a complete autopsy report in late March.
Buttigieg spoke passionately about the detrimental impact of recent legislation targeting transgender and nonbinary individuals. “Trans kids, especially, all they want to do is stay alive. That’s their dream in this country, is to stay alive,” he said.
Buttigieg drew parallels between politics and theater, noting, “I’m not joking when I say politics is theater. They know what they’re doing. They do it on purpose. It’s devastating.”
Buttigieg recently received attacks from far-right influencer Chaya Raichik, who runs several anti-LGBTQ+ hate accounts under the Libs of TikTok umbrella on social media.
Buttigieg called attention to the fact that Raichik has no experience in education or library science yet was appointed to a position overseeing content in Oklahoma’s public school libraries.
The state’s right-wing superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters, has celebrated Raichik’s anti-trans rhetoric, which LGBTQ+ advocates blame for the hostility faced by LGBTQ+ students in the state.
Buttigieg said the attacks spur him on to stand on the side of LGBTQ+ students.
“Shame on you for not wanting to do whatever you can to keep them alive,” he said. “And then when they’re dead, you spit on their grave. You belong nowhere near public service, let alone children.”
Reflecting on his upbringing and the support he received, Buttigieg shared, “I’m so lucky that I got to grow up and go to college and fall in love and have kids. There’s still kids in this country being robbed of all those opportunities.”
As he discussed the harsh reality of advocating for LGBTQ+ rights in a hostile environment, Buttigieg’s resolve was unmistakable. “I continue to speak up, even when sometimes it means the meanest, nastiest people will come for you. At least I know who I am. I know what I believe in, and I know what kind of world I want for my kids,” he declared.
