It would be possible for a non-binary student in an Oklahoma public school to be brutally attacked and to die a day later even if the state superintendent of public instruction was doing all in their power to create a supportive environment for all students. In such a case, the superintendent would have immediately and unconditionally spoken out against the hate and violence, done everything they could to bring comfort to the family and friends of the student who died, and worked tirelessly to make sure such a horrible tragedy never happens again.

But in the case of Superintendent Ryan Walters, we have a person who has gone out of his way to denigrate the value of persons who are LGBTQ2S+, created a hostile environment for all students and teachers who are LGBTQ2S+, and appointed an out of state and openly hostile person to LGBTQ2S+ rights to the Oklahoma state library panel – a person whose social media rants have been linked to a rise in bomb threats against the public schools she targets. Instead of unconditionally condemning the violent attack on Nex Benedict, Walters chose to take it as opportunity to reiterate his stance against persons who are LGBTQ2S+, accuse his “radical leftist” critics of trying to exploit the tragedy “for political gain,” and to comment about the “cause of death” in an ongoing investigation (an investigation that may eventually require the involvement of federal authorities at some point given the attack may be classified as a hate crime).

Our LGBTQ2S+ siblings who work and learn in our public schools will never be safe with Ryan Walters as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Another state politician, Republican state Senator Tom Woods, responded to the tragic death of Nex Benedict by claiming that Oklahoma is a “Christian state” and referring to persons who are LGBTQ2S+ as “filth.” Both should resign immediately as their words and actions continue to endanger the lives of vulnerable Oklahomans.

What Walters, Woods, and so many others (including Governor Stitt) in Oklahoma are doing to create a hostile and deadly environment for our LGBTQ2S+ siblings under the guise of being a “Christian state” has nothing to do with the ways and teachings of Jesus portrayed in the Gospels. It is the antithesis of the Jesus we see in the Gospels. The Jesus of the Gospels called for love of all, justice and liberation for the oppressed, and care for the most vulnerable in our communities. The hate mongers in power in Oklahoma who are responsible for creating an environment that greatly increases the likelihood of continued violent and deadly attacks on persons who are LGBTQ2S+ need to find the way of the Jesus of the Gospels and repent from their words and actions that bring to our state precisely the opposite of the beloved community for which the Jesus of the Gospels lived and died. They should keep the words “Christian” and “Jesus” out of their mouths in their hate-filled rhetoric, and the rest of us must do all in our power to resist allowing them to keep making Oklahomans turn against one another.