Why do we need to know what a bright future Brianna Ghey’s killer had ahead of him?
Trigger warning: mentions of murder and transphobia
Brianna Ghey was a 16-year-old British trans girl murdered by two fellow teens, Eddie Ratcliffe and Scarlett Jenkinson. Despite TERFs on social media occasionally coming out of the woodwork to claim otherwise, transphobia was one of the motives for the attack.
Her murder was deeply shocking—but not shocking enough for the U.K. media to tone down their transphobic rhetoric. “Gender critical” beliefs are still used to attack the trans community.
The inquest into Ghey’s murder is happening now, and the trans community is having to relive that horrible crime. It’s probably fair to say that no one expected the reporting on the inquest to be good, fair, or even somewhat compassionate to the trans community and Ghey’s loved ones, and they were correct. Instead of focusing on the tragedy of Ghey’s death, British newspapers are publishing statements made by Ratcliffe’s mother about what a great child he was.
It’s important to note that similar comments were made before the murderers’ trial and sentencing, which simply makes one wonder, what’s the point of publicizing them again now? The Times has published an article about the matter with the headline, “Brianna Ghey’s killer was set for Oxbridge, says mother.” “Oxbridge” refers to prestigious British universities Oxford and Cambridge.
The article states that the mother, Alice Hemmings, referred to her son as a “good child with good morals” who “clearly knows right and wrong.” It’s impossible to know what must have been going through the parents’ minds, but this is a defense Ratcliffe doesn’t remotely deserve. It certainly shouldn’t have been published twice. He and Jenkinson stabbed Ghey with a hunting knife 28 times in a brutal, pre-meditated killing.
It’s also worth mentioning that the Times article does not refer to Ghey with female pronouns even once, a truly disgusting omission.
The Times article was posted on X by Lee Hurley, co-founder of Trans Writes. He also posted a similar piece by The Guardian. Once again, the “good morals” line was repeated.
But why is it important we know what a good child Ratcliffe supposedly was and what a bright future he might have had? This is part of a constant and oft-reported pattern where the “potential” of male murderers and sex offenders is seen as just as big of a loss as the lives they violently take.
The example most people use when talking about this depressing phenomenon is that of Brock Turner. He sexually assaulted a woman, Chanel Miller, while she was unconscious—but he was given the light sentence of six months in jail, and only served three. Miller’s victim impact statement went viral, and she made it clear how badly her life was affected, but star swimmer Turner was coddled because the judge thought prison would have “a severe impact” on him.
It’s misogynistic to the extreme, but it’s not surprising that the ever-disappointing British media are reporting on Eddie Ratcliffe this way too. No murderer should ever have a headline talking about their lost future when they took a future away from somebody else. Brianna Ghey deserved so much better.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
