Increase in Oklahoma calls to national crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ young adults following Owasso student’s death | News [Video]

Okla. — A national crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ young adults says the average number of calls from Oklahoma have more than tripled following the news of the death of 16-year-old Nex Benedict, a nonbinary student from Owasso High School who died one day after a fight in a school bathroom.

FOX23 spoke with Executive Director of Rainbow Youth Project USA Lance Preston on Thursday.

Preston said their hotline averages about 87 calls from Oklahoma a week, but the number more than tripled between Feb. 16 and Feb. 20 to 349 calls. By Thursday, that number has risen to more than 400 calls.

Preston said of the 349 calls:

• 69% callers mentioned Nex Benedict as one of their reasons for distress
• 85% reported bullying at school/social media
• 79% reported fear of physical assault
• 32 individuals said they were students from Owasso High School
• 14 individuals said they were parents of students who attend Owasso High School

Preston said he’s encouraged to see the number of parents calling in.

“We …