A VIGIL in Manchester honouring Brianna Ghey saw thousands attend to pay their respects. 

Queues to get into Sackville Gardens last night, Wednesday, went around the block, with a city not far from Warrington looking to remember a young life tragically taken. 

Brianna was killed last Saturday in Culceth Linear Park, with two suspects appearing in court for the first time yesterday just hours prior to the vigil. 

While the crowd was diverse and attendants were from all walks of life, the LGBTQ+ community in Manchester came out in full force, with the crowd being littered with rainbow and trans flags. 

Warrington Guardian:

The vigil was organised by Manchester Trans Rise Up, a grassroots Trans rights organisation. 

Speeches were given by Trans activists, friends of Brianna, and members of the LGBTQ+ community from Warrington. 

An organiser Dennis Queen, from Manchester Trans Rise Up, opened the event by reading out Brianna's family's statement, choking up as they spoke of how "Brianna was beautiful, witty and hilarious. Brianna was strong, fearless and one of a kind."

Warrington Guardian:

A Trans Woman from Warrington, Phoebe, spoke of how she'd had eight bones broken in her body in Warrington for being gay, and knew all too well the fear LGBTQ+ people felt in the town. 

She left her hometown eight years ago out of fears of further violence. 

She said "Nothing is worth more than Brianna's life. Nothing is worth more than any of the lives we have lost to hate.

"We have to stand together and protect these children."

A mourner from Manchester Trans Rise Up, spoke with anger and sorrow of the tragic loss of life, saying "Tonight isn't about the anger you feel, today we come to mourn the loss of one of ours. We are here for Brianna's family, her friends, her community.

“Tonight, we mourn. Tomorrow, we fight back.”

Whilse the focus of the evening was particularly on the Trans community, some speakers were Cisgendered allies, with a person called Hannah speaking of their experience growing up near Culcheth Linear Park.

Hannah, a queer ally to the Trans community, said: “For myself and many other young people and children, Linear park was a place of sanctuary to retreat into. It was a place in which I cried, dreamed, and explored.

“Today we live in a society where ideological motives are endangering trans people at every corner.”

Warrington Guardian:

Alex Mathieson also spoke, sharing who she was a queer mum to a Trans kid who is only 16, the same age as Brianna was when she was murdered.

She said: “I am sharing this with you so that you know that when I say I am angry, I’m not a little bit cross. I am furious. When I say angry, I mean rage. When I say I’m fearful, it’s panic. It’s scared. It’s rumbling in the gut of my stomach, and fear for my child and other children like them.”

Security estimated the event was attended by over 2,000 people, with early concerns that the 4,500-person capacity for the park would not be enough.

Warrington Guardian:

Sparkle, a trans organisation in Manchester, volunteered and provided security for the event. They prevented the peaceful vigil from being marred by transphobic attacks – with anti-trans protestors having turned up and being asked to leave by security.

Lee Clatworthy worked security on the event and is the vice-chair of Sparkle. They said “The turnout tonight shows how much the community really cares about this issue. They care about Brianna’s life and her legacy.

“In the last five years since the government announced they were going to reform the Gender Recognition Act, there has been a lot of persecution of trans people in the media and online. Their rhetoric has ramped up to the point where many of us have warned the media that someone would get killed. Unfortunately, we are the point now where a trans girl has been murdered."

Sparkle’s Chair of the Board of Trustees Vicki Mulligan said; “This is an incredibly sad time for my community. The brutal murder of a young trans girl who had such a promising life ahead of her is heartbreaking, especially as many of my trans and non-binary siblings warned that this would be the end result of politicians, including our own Prime Minister, using transphobic rhetoric and actively seeking to remove our rights and freedoms, and the endless demonisation and dehumanisation of trans lives by our print and broadcast media.” 

“I hope that Brianna’s death will be a line in the sand. That our community and our allies say no more to our Government, no more to our media, and no more to the hate and corrosive language that continues to propagate both on and offline.”