Tyra Hunter (c. 1970 – August 7, 1995) was an African-American hairdresser and transgender woman who died after being injured as a passenger in a car accident.
[2] The District of Columbia was found responsible for her death, due to not delivering medical care,[3] and for violations of the DC Human Rights Act during her treatment.
[1] According to witnesses, a male firefighter helping Hunter stopped and backed away laughing upon discovering that she had a penis, and saying "this bitch ain't no girl...it's a nigger, he's got a dick".
[1] ER staff at DC General Hospital subsequently "failed to diagnose Hunter's injuries and follow nationally accepted standards of care.
The second one was opened in December after fire department officials acknowledged that the first investigation was inadequate, but blamed "pressure to produce results from the gay community" for the speed of the first one.
"[10] Adrian Williams, one of the EMTs who had neglected to treat Hunter, testified that he assumed she was a man on sight, "failing to notice that she had breasts, make-up, women's clothing, a woman's hairstyle, and white nail polish.
$600,000 was awarded for damages attributable to violations of the DC Human Rights Act associated with the withdrawal of medical care at the accident scene and openly denigrating Hunter with epithets, a further $1.5 million was awarded to her mother for Hunter's conscious pain and suffering and for economic loss from the wrongful death medical malpractice claim.
Doctors at DC General failed to diagnose and treat Hunter who died of internal bleeding in the hospital emergency room.
[12] Genny Beemyn writes that Hunter's death "significantly changed attitudes towards trans people and became a defining moment" for LGBT rights organizations in the United States, especially in Washington, D.C.[4]: 234 Coverage of her death in The Washington Post "persistently mischaracterized Hunter's gender identity", and resulted in a small demonstration in September 1995 outside the paper's headquarters.