Tyra Hunter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tyra Hunter (1970 - August 7, 1995) was an African-American transsexual woman who died after being injured as a passenger in a car accident and was refused medical care.[1][2] 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 Hunter's mother, Margie, $2.8 million 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 $1.5 million was for conscious pain and suffering endured by Hunter 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."
Tyra had transitioned at the age of 14 and lived entirely as a woman. Over 2,000 people attended her funeral.
T.Y.R.A. (Transgender Youth Resources and Advocacy), a program of the Illinois Gender Advocates and Howard Brown Health Center, is a Chicago area transgendered youth initiative named in the memory of Tyra Hunter.
[edit] See also
- Brandon Teena
- Gwen Araujo
- Transphobia
- List of transgender-related topics
- Violence against LGBT people
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 |
This biography related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender history or culture is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
