MetroWeekly.com – by Yusef Najafi email
The transgender community gets a new resource, honoring the memory of Tyra Hunter
It’s been more than a decade since Tyra Hunter, following a car crash, died on a street in Southeast D.C. But her story has lived on because her death highlighted the dangerous discrimination faced every day by transgender people.
Hunter’s story gained national attention in 1995 when it was discovered that rescue workers had interrupted her medical treatment upon discovering she had male genitalia. Instead of providing treatment for Hunter’s severe injuries, rescue workers spent time making derogatory comments.
Many argue that those three to five minutes could have saved the 24-year-old’s life. Transgender activists Jessica Xavier and Dee Curry fought back by launching Transgenders Against Discrimination and Defamation (TADD), which would eventually become Transgender Health Empowerment (THE).
Their struggle for equal treatment continues today.