ST PAUL, Minn. — OutFront Minnesota was out front at the Minnesota capitol on Tuesday. The group, which works to promote the human rights of LGBTQ Minnesotans, held its annual lobby day to advocate for legislation.
For one group of LGBTQ teens in attendance, that platform begins with one critical step.
"Protecting us," said Ace, a 16-year-old from Andover who uses the pronouns he/it. "I was a target of a lot of bullying, especially in my early years. Kids can be cruel. It doesn't matter how young they are. Responsibility should be taken either with the school, the student itself, or the parent."
Ace wasn't the only one who came to share a message based on personal experience.
"I used to attend Champlin Park High School," said Archer, a 16-year-old who uses he/they pronouns. "I was having a tough year, so I ended up going into a mental health program. After getting out of that program, I came to this school."
Archer and Ace were just some of the students who have now enrolled at Northwest Passage Charter School in Coon Rapids.
"At Northwest Passage, all the bathrooms are gender-neutral," Archer said. "Everything is on one level, so there's no elevators or stairs needed, and all the staff are really helpful."
While the students are grateful to have found a place where they feel safe and seen, they also know that's not the case everywhere in Minnesota.
"I've had many friends who have had problems with the school system and I just want what's right for them," said 15-year-old Alex Erickson (they/them) who lives in New Brighton but also attends Northwest Passage.
While signs of support and love surrounded the students during their trip to the capitol on Tuesday, their hearts were still heavy with lingering questions about the death of a fellow LGBTQ student in Oklahoma earlier this month.
On Feb. 7, a non-binary teen named Nex Benedict was allegedly attacked in a school bathroom in Oklahoma. The next day, they were dead. The medical examiner's office says Nex did not die from trauma, but other details of the investigation, including the results of a toxicology report, have yet to emerge.
Through it all, Nex's mother says they were a target of bullying for who they were.
"I've tried my best to avoid (the news about Nex) because it brings up bad memories of my past," Ace said. "I nearly ended up like that. If I hadn't moved around as much as I did, I don't know what would have happened."
"It could have been me and that's scary," Archer said. "It could have been one of my friends."
Though Minnesota prioritized, and passed, a trans refuge bill last session, the students say the reality for many Minnesota kids varies, which is why they will continue to push for awareness — and legislation — to address bullying.
"Responsibility should be taken either with the school, the student itself, or the parent," Ace said. "I'm here because it matters so our voice doesn't get suppressed. A lot of kids, especially if they have become targets of bullying at a young age, we stop trying. We stop speaking up for ourselves. We become complacent. Don't be complacent with how people treat you."
"Yeah, when it happens so much you get used to the behavior and you don't even realize that it's wrong," Alex said.
Now this group of students is hoping to share that message of hope with others like them, and to those who don't share their experience, they also have a message.
"We are real, we are here and we're not broken," Archer said. "We can't be fixed, there's nothing wrong with us and we are going to continue to exist as we always have."
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