Understand the LGBTQIA+ news: Brianna Ghey Murder sentencing: Impact, Reverberations and Ramifications

In the world of the 24-hour news cycle, it's striking that a week after the sentencing of Brianna Ghey's murderers, it's still in the headlines.

That's for a number of reasons.

As Jess O'Thomson - perhaps the only Trans+ journalist in the courtroom - sets out for us, it's partly because of the widely condemned 'joke' the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made in the House Of Commons on Wednesday.

But for me, the reason this story has hit home is because of Brianna's parents, Peter Spooner and Esther Ghey.

Esther was in the House Of Commons as the PM made the jibe. She has shown incredible bravery, humility, and the genuine love a parent has for their child in media interviews across the week.

We all know grief to some extent. We can all imagine, if not truly understand, how hard it must be for a parent to have their child cruelly stolen from them in a hateful attack that preyed on a child's vulnerability.

The takeaway from this horrible week of news is how, when you scratch the surface beyond the dog whistles from anti-trans groups, there is real, pure hate at play. That's why following the PM's comments politicians across the spectrum and even much of the mainstream media have rebuked them this week.

People all over the country are shocked that the PM is so out of touch with ordinary, caring British people that he can't even put his culture war aside for five minutes to respect the love grieving parents have for their daughter.

For this week’s newsletter, we’ve paid two Trans+ journalists to explore the broader ramifications of the sentencing and other news from the week. Crucially, they look ahead to the looming schools guidance, which will cement the kind of transphobia that inspired this murder in schools all over the country.

Understand the LGBTQIA+ headlines and keep track of the latest queer content and perspectives.

This week, QueerAF is written by Jamie Wareham and two Trans+ Journalists.

💬 This week:

• Parliament. In stark contrast to the PM's remarks, a grassroots organisation helped to organise the first ever all-Trans+ panel in parliament.
• Disruptors. Our first editorial list celebrates QueerAF disruptors who are making history and changing the media landscape as innovators in their own right.
• Schools Guidance. This week's Queer Gaze, the latest in our partnership with Inclusive Journalism Cymru, zooms in on how a rural Welsh school is setting a trans-inclusive model for the rest of the country, but is at risk from looming schools guidance.

Skip the doomscrolling and support queer creatives instead. We are QueerAF – and so are you.

Brianna Ghey: Why Rishi Sunak’s ‘joke’ could be a pivotal moment

TL;DR: Rishi Sunak returned to one of his favourite transphobic dog whistles during PMQs this week. For once, it was almost universally rebuked, contrasted by the media with sympathetic portrayals of the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey. When transphobia is shown to have devastating real-world impacts on good people, it undermines the entire project of transphobic hate.