Tyra Hunter and Gwen Arujo

[emmicd]

I just came upon the stories of two pre-op M-F transexuals whose lives were cut way too short.

Tyra Hunter in her early 20's was living as a female and was unfortunately involved in a car accident and when the paramedics arrived at the scene of the accident upon discovering her secret refused to administer proper medical attention. Upon transport to the hospital the doctor's could not save her as she died.

It was determined that the emergency crew were part responsible for her dying because of their prejudice.

Gwen Arujo, a transexual teen living as a girl was happy now that her outward appearance matched her inner feelings. She dressed and lived as a female with her families acceptance.

Unfortunately her life was cut short because she was murdered by three teen boys who were unable to accept her for what she was.

Very sad outcomes for two young TS women.

Hopefully there will be more tolerance and acceptance of TS/TG individuals and these two lives who were tragically taken away will not be in vain.

My sympathies to their families.

emmi


The other story

[Deborah]

Hiya Emmi
You wouldn't happen to have links to those stories would you?

Hugs
Deb

[Priss]

This is a dangerous life...

http://www.gender.org/remember/index.html#

[NinaV]

I can not say anything about Tyra's story but I am very familiar with Gwen's.

Gwen was looking for trouble. She was hanging out with guys who were into drugs and alcohol. She also had sex with couple of these guys and they did not know about her being TG at that time.
Now that fact never justifies the violence that she had to experience but there were big mistakes in her behavior that cost her her life.
Sorry about this post but the truth comes first.

Nina

[Maria D]

Yes, and in exactly the same way women who dress up and go to bars deserve being raped, right? Pah.
And how about women beaten by abusive partners? That's their fault too because they stay? Pah.
Last time I checked, I was allowed to make mistakes without being beaten to death. What she did might have been stupid but she cannot be held responsible in any way for what happened, because what happened is not justifiable. There are no buts.

[Kimberley]

Can anyone say life plus a day?.... and that is for the bloody paramedics never mind the teen boys. Maybe put them in a girls detention center and let them suffer there......

[Priss]

The abused, should never be blamed for the actions of an abuser.

That said however, the victim may play a role in the results. Common sense dictates that each and every one of us have the sole responsibility for our own safety. There are just certain things that you do not do. For example, do you point a loaded gun at your head or someone else's? Do you cross the street without looking for traffic? If you take risks, sooner or later, you're bound to take a fall... We are never responsible for the actions of others, however we are responsible for the actions that we take.

Be aware of the actions that you take. Once the rape or attack happens, it's too late. It's like driving a car, it's not how many accidents you avoid that makes you a safe driver, it's how many accident situations you avoid getting into to begin with. That doesn't mean that you need to hide in the shadows and not have fun, just be aware...

[NinaV]

like I already said,

Gwen's mistakes never justify the violence she had to experience.

I just do not like such a distorded and one sided presentation of the stories.

Gwen gave blow job to these guys leting them in believe that she was a GG. How else could they had had sex as stated in the trial without knowing that she was a genetic male?
Unfortunately she was hanging out with wrong people who were ready for violence any way.
Here is the link to the page so read yourself.

http://www.homestead.com/Jaimesite/gwenaraujo.html

and there was another page that I do not remember anymore with detailed description of the trial. You can google it.
Nina

[tori-e]

Here is another link...

http://www.glaa.org/archive/1998/margiehunter1211.shtml

Unfortunately these stories are all too common. There is lots of prejudice and ignorance out there and it's important to not put yourself into bad situations. As Jenny Boylan's wife points out "not having grown up as a girl, Jenny doesn't have the same radar as genetic women do" (paraphrased) Also as transwomen we are doubly susceptible to violence. First as women, then if discovered as transsexuals.

These two movies parallel this situations...

Southern Comfort - a documentary about an FTM that dies of ovarian cancer because doctors are afraid to treat him.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276515/

And, Boy's Don't Cry - a true story

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0171804/

Last weekend I was out, completely dressed for a girl's night out dinner. I got pulled over for unwittingly making an illegal turn. I was asked for my license and registration with male names on both. The incident was quite uneventful, I got a warning, for which I thanked him. But was highly offended by being called sir! He didn't blink, and I wasn't that phased, but I later wondered, how would I respond if asked to get out of the car.

Tori

[CaptLex]

Gwen was looking for trouble. She was hanging out with guys who were into drugs and alcohol. She also had sex with couple of these guys and they did not know about her being TG at that time.

Nina:

I could be wrong, but from what I read it seems that the guys knew she was TG when they had sex with her. It was only when it became known to other guys that they became violent and killed her. Seems that they couldn't face what they didn't like about themselves and took it out on her. In either case, she may not have used the best judgement, but I don't think she was "looking for trouble". :(

[NinaV]

here I cut and paste some lines from the page I found on Gwen's memorial page:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6959159/killing_gwen/

In my opinion you can see that they did not know she was not a GG at the time they had sex with her.

After she met the Three Stooges, in the summer of 2002, Gwen became a welcome fixture at the Merel house. It wasn't long before Mike, Jose and Jose's brother Paul all had sex with her -- always with her clothes on. She found ways to get to house parties all over the Bay Area, introducing herself sometimes as Gwen, sometimes Wendy, sometimes Lida. She was out of control, mouthier than ever, drinking and partying and God knew what else on a daily basis.

Mike started bragging about how she'd given him a blow job a couple of nights before. How she'd pulled her pants down but refused to take them all the way off. How she wanted him to do her from behind -- that way -- because she was having her period.
Jaron started giving Mike a hard time about how gross that was, anal sex. But then Jose chimed in. It turned out that Lida had told him the same thing, done the same thing, maybe two weeks before. A period couldn't last that long, could it?
They started comparing notes. How come Lida always wanted it from behind? Why wouldn't she let them touch her breasts? Weren't her hands kind of rough for a girl? Didn't she always wear something over her neck, like maybe she was covering up an Adam's apple? And what about that fight with Nicole? Lida fought like -- well, a guy.


May be it is an misunderstanding. I call this behavior "looking for trouble", meaning that she was out of control and liveing dangerous life. It is an figurativ and not literal meaning. Some one who lives that dangerously appears to be "looking for trouble" considering the risk that she shoud have been aware of. She obviously was not aware of it and considering her age it is not a surprise, and reading the articles her mother tried to bring her under control. She did not succeed unfortunately.
I am absolutly sorry about her death and almost could not read the article myself out of anger and sadness but this case is not quit that simple.
Read the article yourself and read EVEYTHING not just the lines you want to see. like Maria D who is totaly shoving some words into my mouth and does not read my post entirely.:(
Read the Priss's post, these is what I am talking about
peace
Nina

[CaptLex]

Thanks for the link, Nina. I had gotten my information from a documentary I saw. It's a shame that a young life was cut short, and the circumstances of her being TG make it sadder because these guys are seldom dealt with justly and most people don't give it a second thought unless it's someone they know. :thumbsdn:

[Maria D]

Nina, there was no intent to put words in your mouth. If you felt that from my post, I apologise.

I read your post, you said that fact doesn't justify violence, and then you said 'but', as in 'contrary to', implying it does. If that wasn't your meaning, fair enough.
You said that her big mistakes cost her her life. Well, I think that's the bit I have most issue with. I fundamentally believe that all humans have the right to not be hurt deliberately by any other human being. Not for anything. Ever. Not even killing my friend. So in my eyes, nothing she did could in any way, ever, justify what happened to her. Period. She could kill their goldfish for all I care, without fear of retribution save that of the law of the land.

That's where my posts are coming from, and I'm sorry I upset you, it's just that the 'she brought it on herself' attitude is scarily prevalent nowadays. I survey just before Christmas revealed that even GGs think that if a woman wears sexy clothes and gets raped, it was HER fault.

http://www.metro.co.uk/home/article.html?in_article_id=9008&in_page_id=1

I'm angry at that attitude, and I find it unsettling, that's all. What Gwen did was stupid certainly, and I agree with you about biased media coverage portraying her as a saint is wrong, but she didn't bring it on herself.

Priss mentions pointing guns at heads. Sure, you tend to know what happens when you pull the trigger of a gun when it's loaded; there is what I'd call reasonable expectation. Ditto traffic; you put yourself in a dangerous situation of circumstance. What happened to Gwen was NOT that at all. If those three men reacted differently she would not be dead. It was not her, nor the circumstances, but those men's decision based on those circumstances that caused her death, and she could not have known that those men would become murderers; that was not a 'risk' to factor in to life, any more than I expect my work friends to kill me.

That's my view anyway, perhaps we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

[KewTnCurvy GG]

Gwen was looking for trouble.
Nina
I'd just ask then, what does that statement mean in light of all you said?

[Rachel Ann]

Gwen gave blow job to these guys leting them in believe that she was a GG. How else could they had had sex as stated in the trial without knowing that she was a genetic male?
Actually, she had anal sex with them (claiming that she was on her period), which did a lot to damage their credibility when they said that they only later discovered that she was not a GG.

The prosecution almost blew the case by not allowing the jury any option less than first-degree murder in the first trial. (The jury hung not on premeditation but on whether the actions of the defendants were "reasoned", given their level of intoxication.)

In the retrial, second-degree murder convictions were obtained.

There was a lot of bad judgment all around in this case, but drunk teenagers (and overly-ambitious prosecutors) are not noted for their judgment. The bottom line is that Gwen was horribly murdered.

[NinaV]

Thanks for your reply Maria!
I think we agree more than it appears in the posts and there is a slight issue with commucation through the post. I did my best to make myself clear in english language(not my mother language) and it seems like Priss understands and shares my opinion. Therefor I would sugest to read Priss's post for what do I mean with "looking for trouble" KewTnCurvy GG, since I can not do it better.
Any more words from me would here cause greater misunderstanding than what already happend. I apologize!

Nina