The transgender community in Southampton has come together to mark the anniversary of Brianna Ghey's death.

The memorial, organised by Trans Pride Southampton, saw people come to pay tribute to the 16-year-old, who was brutally murdered in Culcheth Linear Park in Culcheth, Cheshire, on February 11 last year.

Event organiser Samantha Xavia, aged 22, said the community had 'lost one of their own' but added that there was a silver lining to the tragedy.

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They said: "As tragic as Brianna's death was, what it did was bring to light issues which weren't really being talked about in the media in general.

"It's nice to see the coverage because there isn't a lot of media coverage shedding light on the issues which affect trans people and there are a lot of victims of transphobia."

Referencing the heated debate around whether transgender athletes should be allowed to compete alongside cisgender competitors in sports, they said: "A lot of trans people's voices are not heard; we tell people all the time that we're not a threat. Most of us don't want to get into sports.

"Sure we may want to go swimming every once in a while, but most of us aren't trying to get into the Olympics or anything like that. We're just trying to be ourselves."

Another person taking part in the event, Kat, 22 said: "It is just so sad that Brianna was taken away from us at such an early age.

She added: "Trans people are not a threat; they just want to live normal lives."

Scarlett Jenkinson and her accomplice Eddie Ratcliffe, aged 16, were respectively sentenced to 22 years and 20 years in prison for stabbing the transgender teenager multiple times.

The judge who sentenced them said the “exceptionally brutal” murder had elements of both sadism by Jenkinson and transphobic hate from Ratcliffe.