Brianna Ghey: What happened to her?
Following the discovery of transgender woman Brianna Ghey with apparent stab wounds in a Warrington park on Saturday, police have detained a boy and a girl, both 15, on suspicion of murder (11 February). The trans community and others have expressed regret and outrage at Brianna’s passing. The schoolgirl’s family described her as “beautiful, smart, amusing, powerful, courageous,” and “one-of-a-kind.” The incident is being looked into by Cheshire Police, who claim it is not presently being handled as a hate crime.
The transgender student Brianna Ghey, 16, went to Birchwood Community High School in Warrington. She was discovered at Linear Park in Culcheth, Cheshire, by locals. Around 3 o’clock, emergency services were contacted, but the adolescent was declared dead there. On TikTok, Brianna Ghey posted updates about her life.
Thousands of people followed Brianna on TikTok through her account @gingerpuppyx, which has since been deactivated. She was seen lip-syncing to popular songs in several of her videos.
According to the Liverpool Echo, Brianna had submitted a video just hours before she passed away and it had garnered more than 8,000 comments before the account was deleted. Many of the comments expressed sadness at her passing. Cheshire Police are not yet considering Brianna’s killing as a hate crime since they are working to identify a motivation for the attack and locate the murder weapon.
“At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that the circumstances surrounding Brianna’s murder are connected to hatred,” stated detective chief superintendent Mike Evans.
“Patrols have been increased in the neighborhood, and officers will stay in the Culcheth area to reassure residents and handle any concerns they may have,” the statement reads.
Reactions
According to the Manchester Evening News, Evans said the incident was a “specific strike at Brianna” and emphasized there was no risk to the neighborhood before the arrests. Brianna, a trans adolescent, has received condolences. Her family led the tributes and referred to her as a “much-loved daughter, granddaughter, and baby sister.” She was a larger-than-life persona who would make a lasting effect on everyone who encountered her, they said. Beautiful, clever, and humorous describe Brianna. Strong, daring, and unique, Brianna was. The loss of her young life has created a huge void in our family, and we know that her friends and instructors who were engaged in her life will also feel this way. The family expressed their gratitude for everyone’s assistance and continuing observance of their privacy. Social media has been swamped with tributes to Brianna as well as calls for gender equality and more tactful coverage of trans life in the media.
Many emphasized that Brianna’s legacy cannot be properly honored since she would be wrongly identified as a man on her death certificate due to the UK’s gender recognition statute. Transgender persons can be correctly recognized on birth, death, marriage, and civil partnership certificates with the use of a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC). Trans persons must provide a body of proof, including a gender dysphoria medical diagnosis, before they may get one anywhere in the UK.
Scotland enacted legislation in December that, among other steps to make the procedure easier and more accessible, would have done away with the medical condition. But in a move that has been characterized as an unprecedented attack on devolution, the UK government halted the legislation last month.
