Company Statement
Our entire team is shocked and saddened following the news of a 16-year-old girl being murdered over the weekend. Trans children deserve safety, compassion, and kindness.
Although police are yet to determine if the murder of Brianna Ghey was motivated by her trans identity, multiple reports suggest she was the victim of ongoing bullying and harassment as a result of her identity. As most of our trans team members can tell you, there is little trust within the community in the police, or media, accurately portraying this situation.
In a political and social climate so filled with hate and lacking compassion, we continue to call for an end to hostility and abuse of trans people across the United Kingdom. In a climate where there was over 600 news articles targeting the trans community in an “aggressive or negative tone” (mermaids) in 2019 and more than 30 anti-lgbtq+ political bills raised in the US, is it really a surprise that a trans person lost their life? No. Any trans person could have (and did) tell you this was coming.
Sadly – the “I told you so” won’t bring back Brianna Ghey. But perhaps it’s enough to wake allies up to the true experiences of being trans in the uk. Violence, abuse, and bigotry is nothing new for us.
BUT what cuts to the core is that Brianna may have seen the future that all trans people are dreaming of & that most trans positive organisations are trying to create.
Brianna didn’t even make it to the age where she could attend our social groups. She never had the opportunity to learn to drive. She never had the chance to be herself in the workplace. In fact, she would have only just been old enough to receive her national insurance number.
We also want to take this moment to strongly condemn the actions of the Daily Mail & The Times who have chosen to deadname Brianna in a cowardly act of disrespect towards herself and her entire family. Any person failing to use the correct name & pronouns for Brianna Ghey should be ashamed – This includes the UK Government which is still yet to implement fair and just laws meaning Brianna will be deadnamed and misgendered in all legal documents following her tragic death.
May Brianna Ghey rest in peace, power, and positivity.
