Just over a year since the murder of Brianna Ghey, Manchester came together to celebrate the life and memory of the 16-year-old.
On Sunday 18 February, at Brewers, Canal Street, in Manchester’s Gay Village, transgender activist Jaxon Feeley from Wigan, the founder of Live Your Truth, hosted a show to commemorate the life of the teenager.
Set up with the help of Brianna’s mother Esther, the fundraising event had a turnout of at least 150 people.
Jaxon, 30, said: “It was so powerful. She [Esther] is genuinely one of the most resilient, strongest, kindest people I have ever met.
“Just to provide her [Esther] and her family with something to look forward to and a little bit of joy and try to find something a little bit positive out of something so horrendous was really, really special.”
Brianna Ghey was murdered on 11 February 2023 and this event showcased support.
Jaxon added: “Everyone who was in that room knew it was for such an importance cause. Everyone felt really empowered because everyone knew the people around them had all come together off their own back, in a room full of people who refused to be silenced.”
The local event brought together a diverse community in the Gay Village and raised hundreds of pounds for Peace & Mind UK, Esther Ghey’s charity.
Jaxon said: “I am passionate about life and not just about trans and improving mental health and that is how it first came together.”
Jaxon explained the event was also inspired by prime minister Rishi Sunak’s comment that ‘a man is a man and a woman is a woman’.
“It incited so much fear in so many people,” he said.
