Rhoads discusses how Brianna Ghey’s murder calls for more protections for transgender people. Photo Courtesy of Ted Eytan via Right to Education Initiative
By Max Rhoads ’25
Staff Writer
Content warning: This article discusses transphobia, transphobic violence, murder, suicide, suicidality and mentions sexual assault.
On Feb. 11, Brianna Ghey, a 16-year-old transgender girl, was murdered in Warrington, England, by two of her peers. Her death and its subsequent coverage sparked outrage across the globe. Transgender communities all over the world organized vigils in her honor and spoke out against the climate of transphobia that contributed to her murder. Additionally, many in the U.K. requested that her birth certificate be amended to reflect her gender identity. In contrast, British news outlets such as The Times and the Daily Mail went out of their way to find and use her deadname in their articles and removed any references to Brianna being a girl upon finding out that she was transgender. Her dead name was removed after people called them out, but that does not change the lack of respect they had for this girl and her identity. Even at vigils meant to honor her, anti-trans protestors would routinely show up and shout slurs at the attendees. Hate groups posted the locations of the vigils online and encouraged their members and other transphobes to disrupt them or even commit acts of violence against the attendees. Even in death, Brianna was not respected as the person she was. Additionally, until recently, Warrington police were hesitant to classify her case as a hate crime. Sadly, her case is only the latest in this most recent wave of transphobic violence. Transphobic hate crimes in Britain have tripled over the last five years, according to Vice. Brianna wasn’t even allowed to exist in peace.
Brianna’s case and the media’s reaction to it reflects a broader trend of how transgender individuals are treated in society today. While the last decade has seen an increase in visibility for the trans community, the past few years have also seen a rise in transphobic hate, often rationalized by panic or concern for cisgender women and children. The most frequently cited concern is that trans people, usually trans women, might sexually assault cisgender women and girls even though the reality is that trans women are more likely to be victims of sexual assault than they are to be perpetrators of it. Trans people as a whole are four times more likely to experience sexual assault than the general population, according to a report from the Williams Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. Most recently, there has been a rise in moral panic surrounding transgender women using women’s bathrooms. Because of this, even cisgender women have been accused of being transgender simply because they did not appear to conform to their assigned gender. No one benefits from this fearmongering. It only exists to spread hate.
Another target of this moral panic is the art form of drag. Some people who are against drag cite their concern as being that drag queens are preying on children. While there have been no recent documented instances of trans women or drag queens abusing children, there has been an increase in conservatives targeting trans women and drag events and committing violence based on this belief. A conservative Twitter account, Libs of TikTok, frequently posts locations of drag shows, compromising the safety of the performers and attendees, purportedly out of concern. All of this signals a desire to enforce a strict, defined gender binary that few will fit into.
These opinions are not just being expressed by fringe hate groups, either. The American press is guilty of transphobia as well. The New York Times, a prominent news outlet, recently came under fire for repeatedly allowing opinion pieces that spread this rhetoric to be published, whether it’s debating the ethics of providing gender-affirming care to minors or allowing them to socially transition without parental knowledge. In an open letter from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to the organization, the contributors, including some prominent journalists and other NYT contributors, expressed concern that The New York Times is following in the lead of far-right hate groups in “presenting gender diversity as a new controversy.” Putting a group of people’s existence up for debate actively encourages the spread of hate and misinformation.
Of course, all this hatred has consequences. In a report by the FBI from 2019, hate crimes against transgender individuals increased by 587 percent between 2013 and 2019. The number might be even higher due to underreporting. The LGBTQ+ community and law enforcement have historically had a contentious relationship, and as with Brianna Ghey, both law enforcement and news outlets are often hesitant to classify crimes against trans people as hate crimes. Perhaps this is because gender diversity is frequently seen as a choice and something to be punished or suppressed rather than an innate characteristic.
Anti-trans hate has been shown to have a detrimental effect on transgender youth. In a study published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 56 percent of transgender youth reported a previous suicide attempt and 86 percent reported having suicidal thoughts. Those who experienced abuse and social rejection were at the highest risk. On the other hand, multiple studies have shown that being supported by one’s community and being allowed access to gender-affirming care greatly reduces the risk of mental health problems and suicide for trans youth. Additionally, increased social acceptance and understanding reduces the murder rate of transgender individuals. Deaths like Brianna Ghey’s are entirely preventable.
Unfortunately, there is a concerning amount of people that would rather transgender people not exist. If all of the hatred towards trans people were really out of concern for the general public, then the solution is clear: give trans youth the support they need to thrive as individuals and stop spreading rhetoric that gets trans people killed. Treat trans people as the human beings that they are. Otherwise, the epidemic of violence and suicide will continue. Despite the facts, that basic need is being denied solely out of hatred for diverse gender expression and transgender people. Brianna was only sixteen. She should be alive and well right now. Someone’s existence is not something you can agree or disagree with.