A 16-year-old girl was murdered in a park Warrington, Cheshire, last week. Brianna Ghey was stabbed to death in a 'targeted attack', with many on social media presuming it was a hate-related incident as Brianna was transgender. Two 15-year-olds have been arrested on suspicion of her murder. Police are currently claiming that there is 'no evidence to suggest that the circumstances surrounding Brianna's death are hate related', but that a number of inquiries are under way to establish the 'exact circumstances'.
Few trans allies on social media believe the attack could truly be devoid of hate-related motives, and the public reaction is reason enough to understand why. Once it was made clear that Brianna was transgender, her former name was reported in the tabloids and organisations began to update their stories on Brianna removing references to her being a girl, and also reporting her former name.
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The Google Trends data also shows a cruel response, breakout search enquiries including questions like 'Was Brianna Ghey born a boy?' and the phrases 'Brianna Ghey real name', 'Brianna Ghey birth name'. It stands to reason that people are searching for Brianna's birth name in order to partake in deadnaming, a horrific practice in itself but particularly when we're talking about the death of a 16-year-old girl. Without adequate gender recognition laws in the UK, Brianna will also be misgendered on her own death certificate.
What is deadnaming?
Deadnaming is when someone, intentionally or not, refers to a person who is transgender by the name they used before they transitioned. For trans people, it can make them feel invalidated, disrespected and unsupported. It's also often used intentionally as a tool to deligitimise and abuse trans people, so whether someone means it or not deadnaming carries a lot of trauma for trans people.
Misgendering someone is similarly used as a tool to abuse trans people, and last year one trans activist took to social media to publish a basic etiquette guide for talking about trans issues, and to trans people. ‘If you slip up on names and pronouns, that’s okay,’ social media user Martin said. ‘Just quickly correct yourself and move on. Don’t make it a big deal, for God’s sake don’t make it a big deal.’
If the current public reaction is anything to go by, re-reading this thread is a necessity for many.
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