By India WilloughbyThe Netflix-ification of the Brianna Ghey murder trial by British media shows just how grotesque things currently are for the trans community - and the total lack of protection from both IPSO News and Ofcom, our two (supposed) media watchdogs.

“From the team behind ‘The Trial of Lucy Letby’ podcast…’ The Trial: Brianna Ghey’, delighted the front page of the Daily Mail, alongside what has become the go-to image of beautiful Brianna in happier times - smiling and biting a bar of chocolate in her brown and black striped jumper.

Yes, there will always be a fascination about true crime, but there is something deeply sick about a paper like the Daily Mail profiting from coverage of the gory details of the death of a trans teenager.

There is no doubt in my mind - and that of many trans people - that the way parts of the British media have reported on issues relevant to trans people have contributed to a climate of transphobia and hate.

In my opinion almost every major broadcaster and publisher have, at times, presented trans people as oddities, and made our lives more difficult; even putting them at risk in some cases.

On the opening day of the Brianna trial, the prosecution mentioned that the two accused had a morbid curiosity about Brianna; exchanging text messages asking whether she would scream like a boy or a girl while being stabbed.

This echoes the overriding narrative of the UK press, which is that trans people - particularly trans women - are not ‘real’, or as worthy of respect as actual genuine women, or men.

Trans hate in Britain has been intellectualised and sanitised by our print media and broadcasters, who consider it rational and justifiable to discuss us in a dehumanising way they wouldn’t dream of subjecting a cis person to.

And even if you don’t buy The Times, or listen to BBC Radio 4, this eventually drips down to street and school level.

On the back of this obsessive demonisation of the trans community, crime against us in the UK over the last few years has rocketed, with an 11% rise in the last year alone.

If you drew a graph over the corresponding period, you’d see this was totally in synch with the explosion of trans stories - almost all hostile, and not written by actual trans people.

There isn’t a single employed trans voice or face who is open about their transgender background in mainstream UK News. This is shocking. Our only visibility on national TV is in occasional 5 minute ‘trans on trial’ scenarios, where we are accused of being a danger to women or children, or asked about our private parts.

I say occasional, because often these discussions take place with nobody trans in the room.

Back to the Brianna Ghey murder trial and how it’s being covered.

Yes, reporters have to cover trials accurately - as in word-for-word from the barristers and judge. And yes, deadnaming - where a trans person’s old name is dredged up from the past - is unavoidable to some degree, because of the phone texts that make up some of the evidence.

But there is no justification for newspapers and broadcasters to use these mentions as an excuse to repeat and amplify them outside a court report in coverage and comment pieces. It does not give the public any additional insights into the trial, and is incredibly intrusive to the victim's family.

In a just country, I’d hope that now this trial is over that IPSO News and Ofcom will look at the coverage and act.

But sadly, we don’t live in a just country.

British media needs to show Brianna - and her family and friends - some respect.