Hear hear! Just yesterday on Twitter, a supportive queer ally commented on my recent story about Nex Benedict, the nonbinary teenager in Oklahoma who died the day after three girls assaulted them while yelling anti-trans slurs.

"Will the killers be going to prison?" my commenter asked, seeming to wish that they would but fearing that they won't.

I didn't get into a long discussion, just pointed out that the adults in Oklahoma — politicians and educators —who are filling the air with violent anti-trans rhetoric need to be held accountable for the consequences of their terrorism.

We need positive solutions, community building, and compassion. We don't need to further feed the prison industrial complex, which has always been more about breaking people than rehabilitating them.

Justice matters, and please nobody think I'm suggesting that trans folks who are victims of violence don't deserve justice.

I'm just saying our existing system is broken.