Tyra Hunter
Tyra Hunter (circa 1970 -
August 7,
1995) was a 24 year old
transsexual woman who died after being injured as a passenger in a
car accident.
Emergency medical technicians at the scene of the accident uttered derogatory epithets and withdrew medical care after discovering her birth sex, and
ER staff at
DC General Hospital subsequently provided dilatory and inadequate care.
On
December 11,
1998 a
jury awarded Tyra's mother, Margie Hunter, $2,873,000 after finding the
District of Columbia guilty of negligence and malpractice. While $500,000 of the amount was awarded for damages attributable to the withdrawal of medical care at the accident scene, a further $1,500,000 was for conscious pain and suffering endured by Tyra in the emergency room as the result of medical malpractice.
Dana Priesing, an observer at the
wrongful death trial, wrote that the evidence supported "the inference that a stereotype (namely that Tyra was an anonymous, drug using,
TG street person) affected the treatment [Tyra] received," and that the "ER staff, as evidenced by their actions, did not consider her life worth saving."
T.Y.R.A., a program of the Illinois Gender Advocates and Howard Brown Health Centers, is a Chicago area transgendered youth initiative named in the memory of Tyra Hunter.
T.Y.R.A stands for Transgender Youth Resources and Advocacy.
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Brandon Teena,
Gwen Araujo, other victims of
transphobia *
List of transgender-related topics *
Remembering Our Dead
