By Matt Lavietes —
NBC News
The United States Department of Education will investigate the Oklahoma school district where Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old non-binary student, died after an altercation with his classmates.
According to a letter obtained on Friday by NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo, authorities are seeking to determine whether the high school did not respond adequately to the harassment it suffered.
The Department of Education's letter was addressed to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country's largest LGBTQ rights group, which had filed a complaint following Benedict's death on February 8.
Benedict died a day after getting into a fight with three other students in the bathroom at Owasso High School, in a case that has drawn intense media attention and condemnation from LGBTQ advocates around the world.
In its complaint, the HRC asked the Department of Education to investigate the district for failing to “address the discrimination and harassment to which Nex was subjected” and to determine whether the district violated Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on sex or gender in public education programs.
“This letter is to notify you that the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is opening for investigation the above-mentioned complaint you filed against Owasso Public Schools (the district),” writes Karen E. Mines , the chief prosecutor of the Department of Education in a letter to the HRC.
"Her complaint alleges that the District discriminated against students by failing to appropriately respond to sexual harassment, of which it was aware, at Owasso High School during the 2023-2024 school year."
Mines added that the department will investigate whether the district failed to adequately respond to alleged harassment of students "in a manner consistent with the requirements in Title IX."
Neither the Department of Education nor Owasso Public Schools immediately responded to requests for comment.
It is still unclear what caused Benedict's death and whether the fight he had with three other high school students played a role in his death.
In body camera footage from a police officer who questioned Benedict on Feb. 7, the day of the fight, Benedict can be heard telling the officer that three students attacked him in the bathroom.
Benedict recounts that he threw water on the students before the fight because they had picked on him and his friends for the way they were dressed.
"Nex's family, community and the broader 2SLGBTQI+ (two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,
queer
and intersex+) group in Oklahoma are still waiting for answers following her tragic loss," said HRC President Kelley Robinson. in a statement Friday night.
"We appreciate that the Department of Education responded to our complaint and opened an investigation; we need them to act urgently so that there can be justice for Nex and so that all students at Owasso High School and all schools in Oklahoma can be safe of harassment and discrimination.