Petition: Oust Superintendent Ryan Walters
The Oklahoma Legislature must step in and protect 2SLGBTQ+ ** students in Oklahoma.
We, the undersigned, urge immediate action from the Oklahoma Legislature to remove Superintendent Ryan Walters and take appropriate measures to ensure the protection of 2SLGBTQ+ students and staff in Oklahoma schools.
Under the leadership of Superintendent Walters, the Oklahoma Department of Education has fostered a culture that has led to marginalization, harassment, and discrimination against 2SLGBTQ+ individuals in public schools. 2SLGBTQ+ students face a climate of hate and bigotry, in which their safety and well-being are at risk. The horrific death of Nex Benedict, and the callous behavior of Oklahoma Department of Education leadership in the wake of their death, demonstrates a very real and present danger to other vulnerable children in the state.
We are united in our demand for justice, equality, and inclusion within Oklahoma schools. We must ensure that 2SLGBTQ+ students and staff in Oklahoma schools are provided with the necessary protections and support to thrive in their educational environments. We call upon the Oklahoma State Legislature to take action now.
**In this petition we use 2SLGBTQ where 2S stands for “Two-Spirit,” which is a phrase used in Indigenous communities to identify gender-expansive individuals or those who do not identify with their gender at birth. Oklahoma has the largest indigenous population of any state and Nex was of the Choctaw ancestry.
