Last month, nonbinary teenager Nex Benedict was found dead at his home one day after a fight with three classmates at his Oklahoma high school. Nex’s parents report that Nex, who used he/him and they/them pronouns, was the target of intense bullying by classmates in the months before his death. This month, the Department of Education announced it was investigating the school district’s handling of sex-based harassment.
Benedict’s death is a sobering reflection of the increasingly hostile climate young LGBTQ Americans face. Most of the coverage on this has focused on red states where politicians are seeking to roll back the rights of LGBTQ Americans, especially the trans and nonbinary community. But the harms are visible nationwide. A recent report on Gen Z Americans from the Public Religion Research Institute (where I am the CEO) finds that Gen Z adults who identify as LGBTQ report experiencing far more hostility than their straight counterparts.
Many Americans may struggle to understand why our country is experiencing this backslide in LGBTQ rights, after years of growing acceptance.
Moreover, our latest data shows that in the past year, Americans have become less supportive of LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections and same-sex marriage, and less opposed to allowing religiously based refusals of service to LGBTQ Americans. Yet our report also shows that despite the hostility they face and their deep distrust of American institutions, queer Gen Zers also maintain a strong sense of resilience.
Many Americans may struggle to understand why our country is experiencing this backslide in LGBTQ rights, after years of growing acceptance. As others have documented, this strategy, including a flurry of legislation restricting transgender rights and discussion of LGBTQ topics in schools by state legislatures and school boards, is part of a concerted effort by conservative activists. They realize that while most Americans support same-sex marriage and…
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