State senator criticized for calling LGBTQ+ Oklahomans ‘filth’ during public forum in Tahlequah

OKLAHOMA CITY – A state senator is being criticized for making degrading remarks about the LGBTQ+ community at a time when their rights are being targeted by the Legislature and amid outcry over the death of an Oklahoma nonbinary student who had been bullied.

Sen. Tom Woods on Friday called the LGBTQ+ community “filth” while answering questions during a public forum in Tahlequah.

Cathy Cott, a 64-year-old semi-retired resident, asked the lawmakers why the Legislature had such an obsession with the LGBTQ+ citizens of the state, what people do in their personal lives and how they raise their children, according to the Tahlequah Daily Press, which first reported the remarks.

When she got no answer, she asked about the bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community.

“We are a Republican state — supermajority — in the House and Senate,” said Woods, R-Westville. “I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma.”

The newspaper reported several audience members clapped, while others appeared shocked.

“We are a religious state, and we are going to fight it to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma because we are a Christian state — we are a moral state,” Woods said. “We want to lower taxes and let people be able to live and work and go to the faith they choose. We are a Republican state, and I’m going to vote my district, and I’m going to vote my values, and we don’t want that in the state of Oklahoma.”

When reached Friday afternoon, Woods said he was quoted accurately and to call him back after he consulted with someone on the Senate communications staff.

He did not respond to a follow up call.

Cott said in an interview with Oklahoma Voice that she was not surprised by Woods’ answer.

Cott said she has many family and friends who are LGBTQ+.

“I have dealt with other state representatives and senators and been to lobby day and tried to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community when I can so I am used to it,” she said. “They haven’t said anything like this to me before where they describe citizens of the state as filth, but they let me know they just don’t care.”

She said Woods’ remarks absolutely contribute to the hostile climate in the state for the LGBTQ+ community.

Woods’ remarks came just days after the death of a 16-year-old nonbinary Owasso High School student.

Nex Benedict’s death has sparked outrage across the country. And, some speakers at Thursday’s Oklahoma State Board of Education meeting said anti-transgender policies and messaging from state officials led to Benedict’s bullying and attack.

Owasso police said Benedict, who used they/them pronouns, received hospital treatment after being involved in a fight in the school restroom on Feb. 7. They suffered a medical emergency the next day and died of unconfirmed causes.

Police said Wednesday that Benedict did not die from trauma.

Benedict’s mother told the British newspaper The Independent that they were bullied at school. The bullying worsened after new anti-transgender laws took effect.

In recent years, lawmakers passed laws that require students to use restrooms that correspond with the sex listed on their birth certificate or require the school to make another accommodation; prohibit males who have transitioned to female from participating in women’s sports; and banned minors from receiving gender-affirming care.

The ACLU reports it’s tracking 54 Oklahoma bills it classifies as anti-LGBTQ+ that range from forcing schools to out students to prohibiting state agencies from displaying the Pride flag.

Nicole McAfee, Freedom Oklahoma executive director, said it was devastating to hear those remarks from someone in power at any time, but especially now.

Members of the community have always lived in Oklahoma and will continue to reside in the state, McAfee said.

“It is unfortunate we have people in places of power who see the results in the anti- LGBTQ+ rhetoric and still engage in that harm,” McAfee said.