I am trying to keep my blog positive these days in the face of many bad things. I was writing a post about my holiday, which will go up soon. But another murder of a trans person, this time a trans teen, can't go unmentioned, especially as a dear friend of mine lives a stone's throw away from where she died.
I am heartened that, as far as I am able to judge from another country a thousand miles away, the public response to the murder of Brianna Ghey in the UK has so far been one of widespread mourning and remembrance with many candlelit vigils having already taken place and to be held soon. The fundraiser for her family has beaten all expectations many times over (and if you wish to contribute, here is the link https://gofund.me/cd3474f2).
It is violence like this that make most trans people scared to go out. It took me decades to pluck up the courage to do so and I am not even now, after the setbacks with health and moving abroad, quite ready to do so properly again. Perhaps this very public case will illustrate to the British public at large just what trans people face. Perhaps a turning point against the disinformation campaigns by hostile groups that are thriving in the current environment in the UK, which is one of the reasons why I have left that country.
Rest in peace, Brianna.
Sue x
It's such a shame, so much life ahead of her.
ReplyDeleteMy brother in law lives in the village where it happened, we've visited quite a lot over the years, it always seemed like a really nice place.
Never been there en femme though.
I'm hoping to visit the Leeds vigil this weekend
Thank you, Isobel. I hope you can make it to a vigil and find solidarity with the many people who find this intolerable. I hope your brother-in-law is OK, too. These things can affect small communities a lot, like the village in Devon I used to live in where a teenager was murdered. Thirty years on, I am still upset by that. Sue x
DeleteTo lose a child is devastating. To have one taken away from you, quite something else. I hope that Brianna's family and friends are able to draw some comfort in the vigils.
ReplyDeleteI hope so, too, Lynn. I hope they find just how many people do support trans lives. Sue x
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