US Coverage of Brianna Ghey Murder Downplays Killers’ Transphobia

The teens who murdered Ghey referred to her as “it” and discussed her trans identity in dehumanizing ways as they psyched themselves up to stab her in a public park.

photo of Brianna Ghey distributed by Cheshire Police

If you’ve followed the Brianna Ghey murder trial you will likely already have heard of the hateful, transphobic messages Brianna’s the young killers exchanged. The teenagers, referred to as Boy Y and Girl X, were convicted of the brutal murder their transgender classmate, Brianna, last February. During the trial it was clear the pair had focused on Brianna’s trans identity, with the first message from Girl X making mention of Brianna’s genitalia, and the response Boy Y using common slurs. Boy Y would go on to consistently referred to their future victim as “it.” As the two narrowed down their list of victims, one of the reasons Boy Y gave for choosing Brianna, rather than a boy they’d also discussed killing? “I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl.”

screenshot from the Guardian

Police quickly claimed Brianna’s murder was not “hate” related, but later partially walked this back, admitting that transphobic texts showed that her transgender identity may have played a role. The killing was not prosecuted as a hate crime, but the transphobic texts did feature heavily in the prosecution’s case.

In the U. S., coverage in both the New York Times and Washington Post has omitted any references to the transphobic messages Boy Y and Girl X exchanged, with the Washington Post going as far as echo a misleading Guardian headline claiming police had ruled out transphobia as a motive. The body of the Guardian story, in contrast, explains the controversy over that choice and the transphobic messages exchanged by the teens in the lead up to the murder.

Here’s the Washington Post’s frame:

screenshot from the Washington Post

Here’s the Guardian story, linked on the words “ruled out.”

screenshot from the Guardian

Note the difference? Police eventually decided the killing was not “primarily” driven by a hatred of Brianna’s transgender identity, despite transphobia playing a central role in their discussions beforehand. The LGBTQ+ community in the UK have disagreed, saying that based on the contents of the texts it was clear that transphobia was key to the dehumanization that led Boy Y and Girl X to kill her, and part of what made her vulnerable to them while other potential victims were passed over as too difficult to kill.

By choosing to leave the killers’ transphobia out of the story of Brianna’s murder, the American press is doing a disservice to an audience who likely have no other source of information about what happened to this girl. The New York Times and Washington Post also left out of frame the recent school guidance put out by the Tory government which would have encouraged her school to ban her from socially transitioning, even with full parental support.

The transphobia displayed by the teenagers who killed this girl is essential to understanding the crime and how it came to be. By leaving this out, NYT and the Post are providing a censored, partial picture of what happened with the role transphobia played being conveniently and blatantly left out.