Vigil for Brianna Ghey

Notable Persons

Brianna Ghey was a 16-year-old girl from Warrington. She was described by her family as a larger than life character who would leave a lasting impression on all that met her. Beautiful, witty, hilarious, strong, and fearless. She was bullied and attacked for years because of her gender identity. Her school, and others in a position of power, did nothing to resolve the bullying. She was murdered in a targeted attack by two teens of a similar age on the 11th of February, 2023.

UK Media and Government Response

The UK medias response to her death was abhorrent. Many publications misgendered her and a few published her dead name. The times removed the word 'girl' from their article about her death, replacing it with 'teen' after they learned she was trans. Many publications performed similar acts of disrespect.

Due to the UKs regressive gender recognition laws, Brianna was unable to attain a gender recognition certificate due to her age. Because of this, her death certificate will misgender her as a final insult at the hands of the state. The conservative government responded to public outcry allow a posthumous gender recognition certificate to be issued by stating that the existing system was working as intended, and that there were no plans to change it.

To clarify for those unaware, a gender recognition certificate allows a trans person to update their gender marker on their birth, marriage, and death certificates. That is its only function, despite trans genocide advocates frequently spreading misinformation about the impacts of the certficiate. Scotland attempted to lower the age it could be acquired to 16, in line with their minimum age for marriage, and was blocked by the UK government. In truth, there should be no age limit on acquisition — as Brianna has sadly shown, a death certificate can be required at any age.

Vigil At Forbury Gardens

While few outside her local area and social circle knew of Brianna before her death, it shook the trans community in the UK to its core. Vigils were quickly organised across the country, and Reading Trans Movement organised one to be held in Forbury Gardens.

The vigil provided support for the local community in their grief and fear, and allowed us to come together to share speeches, poetry, and songs in dedication to Brianna.

Over 200 members of the local community attended the Vigil, and speakers included representatives from Reading Trans Movement, as well as Reading Pride's My Umbrella, Trans in the City, Wokingham Pride (also representing the Wokingham Liberal Democrats and Wokingham Borough Council), Support U, Reading University Student Union, Reading Minster Church, and Reading Labour.

Reading pride recorded and uploaded footage of a portion of the event, including speeches from many of the representatives listed above, photos of tributes placed by the lion statue, and a recording of a beautiful rendition of Scarecrow by Melissa Etheridge sung by one of the attendants. The song was written about the kidnapping, torture, and murder of 21 year old Matthew Shepard motivated by the anti-gay movement of the 1990s.