Nikki Araguz Update 11B -Another Cristan Update

The courtroom showdown in the Araguz case happens August 16, and Phyllis and her legal team are working hard to ensure a victory in this case.

In this latest update from Cristan Williams, she has uncovered more interesting information you may want to check out.

A Tale Of Two Flight Attendants

As a former airline employee, I've been following the story of Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who went off on a still unidentified female passenger.

He shouted obscenities over the PA, grabbed a beer and deployed the emergency slide when the JetBlue flight parked at JFK in a dramatic resignation that earned him a trip to jail and has him facing federal prosecution and seven years in a Club Fed facility.

But what if flight attendant Steven Slater had been Black?

I already know the answer to that question because just five years ago, there was a very different reaction for one of my former CAL co-workers, flight attendant Sharon Brown.

And before I delve into this post, in the interest of journalistic integrity, during my time I worked at CAL I met, worked multiple flights at my gates with Ms. Brown as part of the flight attendant crew and had some long conversations with her at various times.

Now back to your regularly scheduled TransGriot post.

She had a December 19, 2005 confrontation with Lakewood Church's Victoria Osteen in which she was according to her attorney thrown against a first class lavatory door and elbowed in her breast while Osteen tried to bumrush the cockpit.

And the reason for all that drama? Because Brown didn't in Osteen's estimation clean up a spill in her first class seat fast enough to her liking.

The altercation led to Osteen and her family being asked to leave the flight to Vail, CO and eventually paying a $3,000 FAA fine for interfering with a crew member. A subsequent $500,000 assault lawsuit filed by Brown was later dismissed two years ago this week.

The thing that I'm noticing is the differing reactions to Slater's and Brown's cases. Slater is being hailed as a hero. Brown was accused of 'playing the race card'.

Exhibit A The Houston Press August 8, 2008
scott says:

this sharon brown thinks just because she is black she can get her way bull crap if this happen in 2005 then why is she now just cring about it it's 2008 something wrong in this picture and she claims she lost faith and received injurys come on what kind of games is she playing here it's all about money an IM sure she offer marie johnson a small cut if she testfied for her where's the proof of damange and if u lost faith in god don't blame mrs osteen for it she can't make you so brown and johnson just grow up and ask god forgivness and your lawyer has to be an idiot for repesenting you and any one in that courtroom believing ms brown something is wrong with you.should have brown and johnson take a lie detecter test.

Exhibit B The Chocolate City Blog

Denise
Ms. Brown behavior is nothing but that of an opportunistic low life individual trying to reach the fast pace of success through someone else’s hard work. She needs to find a real job!
9:54 PM on 8/13/08

And I'll spare y'all the really vile crap I stumbled across on the white supremacist site Stormfront.

Sharon Brown didn't get a Facebook page with thousands of followers hailing her as a shero for doing her job and standing up to someone with wealth and fame behaving badly. She just got reviled, disrespected, called an opportunist, her sanity questioned and what happened to her on that Vail flight belittled and dismissed.

Slater's case has yet to finish playing out. We still don't know anything else about the female passenger that triggered this incident. I'm curious to see if this mystery passenger is a POC and how that affects the public perceptions of Slater.

But once again, this tale of two flight attendants points out just how much race affects the perceptions of everyday incidents in America.

Ah Kua Show In America Video

Meet Nong Dingadong, a Thai "ladyboy" performer from Bangkok, Leona Lo, a Singapore transgender woman activist and entrepreneur, and Chantel, a Malay transgender woman sex worker.

They are the characters from Leona Lo's sold out Ah Kua show.

Leona's brought her sold out Ah Kua show to the US. You lucky people in the New York area get an opportunity to see it starting on August 21 to August 26 at The Club at LaMaMa. Tickets are $15-18 dollars and are on sale now.

If you're in the New York are, please consider supporting our Singaporean sister's show.

Didn't Know I Was 'Culturally Inappropriate'

The faith based bigots at the Fascist (oops Family) Research Council are rolling out some new language to try to prevent us from gaining our civil right rights coverage.

Did you know we are "culturally inappropriate" according to Peter Sprigg and company?

Observe my 'culturally inappropriate' French manicured extended middle finger and KMBTA.

I'm sick of you right wing anuses fighting my ability to enjoy my constitutionally granted civil rights for specious religious reasons and to fill your financial coffers with right wing bigot bucks.

But like all conservative bigots, you are on the wrong (and immoral) side of history and you will lose.

All we have to do is be patient, protest, pray, continue whacking away at your specious lies, your logic deficient arguments, and blowing holes in your false Scripture twisting arguments.

You neo-Pharisees and Sagicees will reap the bitter harvest of what you are sowing.

BTW faith based haters, the actuary tables are on our side as well as science and increasingly the law. The kids behind us are more 'ejumacated' and open minded than y'all are. Some of them deliciously are your own.

They have grown up with trans relatives and friends. So the more y'all hate, the more out of touch with reality y'all look, and the more our inevitable victory is assured.

It is you and your ilk who are revealed every day as being 'culturally inappropriate'.

Oh yeah, one other thing that has been revealed as well: You need Jesus.

Nikki Araguz Update 11- Nikki Talks About The In Laws

TransGriot Note: Wondering what Nikki's thoughts are about her in laws? Since the MSM hasn't asked her that question, the TG center peeps did.

Brittany's Open Letter To Rep. Sally Kern

As many of you TransGriot readers know, I have been eagerly watching the campaigns of our trans candidates this election cycle.

But the one that has really gotten my attention is Brittany Novotny. She's running a hard hitting and smart campaign focusing on the issues in Oklahoma's 84th House District.

She recently posted on her campaign website an open letter to homobigot Republican incumbent Rep. Sally Kern.

Here's an excerpt from it.

This led me to ponder a question. What exactly do you see as your job as a state legislator? Is this just a game to you? Oklahoma is facing real issues that will affect the everyday lives of teachers, police officers, firefighters, construction workers, small business owners, and most important of all, our children.

Instead of spending your weekends and your time in the legislature “taking a stand against liberals,” why aren’t you finding solutions to our budget dilemma that will keep teachers in the classroom, police officers and firefighters on the street, construction workers improving our roads and bridges, and small businesses afloat?

Legislating should not be a political game. Real lives are affected by what goes on in the legislature. But if you’re too busy “taking a stand against liberals” (of which there are maybe 5 in the 101 seats of the state legislature) to find real funding solutions, then apparently you believe that legislating is just a game. As long as you’re taking a brave stand against “liberals,” then people shouldn’t worry about the fact that Putnam City Schools just laid of 40 teachers.

Check out the full letter at Brittany's website and drop her a little cash for her campaign against Sally Kern as well.

New Mexico Making Driver's License Gender Change Easier

Transpeople living in New Mexico have cheered the recent move by the state's Motor Vehicle Division to make it easier to change the gender code on their drivers licenses.

In July the New Mexico Motor Vehicles Division not only established a new form to help facilitate changing a person’s gender designation on a drivers license, they also clarified MVD policy that gender surgery is not a requirement for a person seeking to change their gender.

All that is required in the Land of Enchantment is the signature of a medical provider or clinician stating their opinion that the person will not change their gender again in the foreseeable future.

The MVD's new procedure was considered necessary because the MVD has seen a gradual increase in the number of transgender people requesting the change, but there has been no consistency across offices about how to handle the request.

“It made sense to standardize the process so there are clear directions for our staff on how to handle these requests,” said Alicia Ortiz, deputy director of the MVD.

As I and other people throughout the transosphere have pointed out, mismatched gender codes on our IDs open us up to travel difficulties, potential discrimination and violence if we're outed as trans in the wrong situations.

The US State Department recently announced a similar policy change for passports, so it's nice to see that various states are now following through with similar changes.

Kudos to the state of New Mexico for doing so.

Hong Kong Transwoman STILL Fighting To Marry Her Boyfriend

US based transpeople are focused on the court case brewing in Wharton, TX with Nikki Araguz, but we may wish to keep an eye on the other side of the planet as well.

In Hong Kong a transwoman is fighting for the right to marry her boyfriend.

Leona Lo mentioned this case back in November, and it involves a twentysomething post operative Chinese transwoman known only as 'W' according to the BBC report.

Ms. W is fighting legal authorities there who are blocking her marriage.

Transgender marriage is permitted in many European countries and several US states. In Asia, countries that allow transpeople to get married include Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and mainland China, according to the University of Hong Kong's Professor Sam Winter, who studies Asian transgender issues.

Despite the fact that Ms. W had surgery a few years ago with government assistance, changed her school documents and her identity card shows she is female, her birth certificate doesn't. Current Hong Kong law isn't allowing her birth certificate to be altered to reflect the person she is now.

Hong Kong bans same gender marriage, and because of 'W's unaltered birth certificate she is considered male by Hong Kong authorities.

She's taking her case to the Hong Kong High Court with the help of her attorney Mike Vidler. The review by the High Court began Monday and is scheduled to take two days.

He told reporters according to the BBC article, that while the territory had a system supporting people having sex change surgery, it was blocking this woman from sharing the rights of other women.

"We're not trying to change the law and we don't see this case as affecting or requiring changes to any law," Vidler said. "We just want her to be seen as a woman and treated as a woman."

And he's correct.

Best of luck to Ms. W and hope she wins her case.

A Houston Trans History Lesson With Phyllis

August 12 will mark the 30th anniversary of the repeal of the Houston anti-crossdressing ordinance after 3 1/2 years of lobbying by 'the godmother of the trans rights movement' Phyllis Frye.

With the only NO vote from Christin Hartung, the repeal passed and Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Goyen signature eliminated an ordinance that had been abused by HPD under its reviled chief Herman Short.

HPD used it at the time to not only harass and arrest women wearing fly front pants, but transwomen, female illusionists, the gay community, lesbians and anyone else the HPD vice squad did not approve of.

At that time women were expected to have their zippers on the side or in the back, otherwise, they were cross dressing.

And here's a sample of the oral history you'll be getting this weekend.

"On August 12th, 1980, after several delay-tags that were put on the repeal ordinance, it was again before Council. At the time, our Mayor was Jim McConn. He was out of town, as was Jim Westmoreland. McConn knew that it was coming up on the agenda, and he had told the Mayor Pro Tem for that day, Johnny Goyen, that it was alright with him. City Secretary, Anna Russell, waited until Council members Homer Ford and Larry McKaskell were on the phone. When they got on the phone, she immediately handed the repeal to Johnny.

You see, the deal is that under council rules if you're present and you don't vote no, then it's an automatic yes vote. Homer and Larry were on the phone. They didn't even know what was going on. There was only one no vote, and that was Council member Christin Hartung, she was the sole and only no vote. I still hope that somebody will beat her. Homer and Larry went to Johnny about five minutes later, and Johnny says, "oh, I didn't know that was going through." The ordinance was repealed and it has remained so to this day."

On Saturday August 14, Phyllis will tell stories similar to this one about the anti-crossdressing ordinance fight and her long battles starting in the late 70's for trans civil rights.

The TransGriot will be there for this one. So join me and the Transgender Center folks as we gather to celebrate Phyllis Frye's long fight against discrimination and celebrating this historic occasion.

Everyone is welcome, food will be provided, but bring your own beer and wine.

It will take place on Saturday August 14 from 12-5 PM at the Houston TG Center. It is located in Montrose at 604 Pacific, Houston, TX, 77006

For more info e-mail Lou Weaver: lou@tgctr.org

A Flag Burning I'm Down With

When I see my own or any national flag being burned in protest, I have mixed emotions about it.

While it is a protected form of protest speech under the First Amendment, on another level it bothers me because I know a flag is a symbol for the nation that it represents.

But when it comes to the Confederate flag, it represents a failed nation founded by traitors during the Civil War. It was founded to not only perpetuate enslaving my ancestors, but with a cornerstone premise that me and my ancestors are not equal to whites and fought a war to continue enslaving people who share my African ancestry.

Thank God the Confederacy was defeated in battle. That flag also became during the Civil Rights Movement synonymous with bigotry and hate.

So yeah, this is one flag burning I am definitely down with.

A movement is popping up on FB that seeks to have happen on September 12, the day the Tea Klux Klan holds its rallies all over the country, to host Burn The Confederate Flag Day.

According to its website, Burn the Confederate Flag Day is a protest against the right wing's ramped up exploitation of racial prejudice for political gain.

The teabaggers are still pissed because they got their electoral butts kicked in 2008 and hate seeing the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue my ancestors built with unpaid labor finally occupied by an African-American family.

It'll be interesting to see if this protest gets any traction or coverage from MSM networks overfocused on a small, loud group of angry vanilla flavored peeps.

You Can't Declare War On Love

When it was on the air, Battlestar Galactica was one of my fave sci-fi shows and I never missed an episode during its four year run. I own all four seasons on DVD, the "Razor" and "The Plan" standalone episodes as well.

I recently entertained myself on a slow news day by watching "The Plan." The story for you non-BSG fans is that Number One, aka Brother Cavil, hates humanity with a passion. He coordinated along with his fellow Number One avatars the genocidal nuclear sneak attack by the Cylons on the Twelve Colonies that nearly wipes the human race out.

During one scene in it, Brother Cavil is ranting to a Number Six avatar about why his grand plan to exterminate humanity and its remaining 50,000 survivors is failing miserably. Number Six listens, then says to him, "You can't declare war on love."

I was thinking about that comment in the wake of the historic news concerning Prop 8. August 4, 2010, will go down in history as one of those marvelous days in which a marginalized group's flagging faith in the Constitution and their status as citizens in this country was restored, even if only for one fleeting moment in time.

This marriage fight reminds me of that particular Battlestar episode. The gay community takes devastating hits, has had some staggering losses, faces situations in which at times they have been outgunned and overmatched, but yet are still standing and moving towards their ultimate goal of finding marriage equality.

And the Religious Right reminds me of Brother Cavil and the Cylons.

Yes, they have a plan. Their plan is make sure that marriage equality never becomes the law of the land and that the TBLG community remains in permanent second-class citizenship status.

And it ain't working. Not only have the underestimated the resiliency of the GLBT community, but how willing we are to do as Kara Thrace said in another BSG episode, "Fight 'em until we can't."

The Religious Right can't deal with people of the same gender or trans people falling in love and getting married. For specious political and religious reasons they want to prevent that by any means necessary.

They have basically declared war on love.

Gay community, don't forget as you're justifiably celebrating this win, down in my home state we have the Nikki Araguz marriage case percolating at the local level just outside of Houston.

That case, just like Perry vs. Schwarzenegger has the potential to become a landmark legal case that will impact how the law treats transgender marriage issues. It also has the potential to overturn the odious Littleton vs. Prange case, and is being handled by one of our community's foremost legal minds in Phyllis Frye.

As your allies, we could definitely use your support in our trans marriage fight. A win for us in the Araguz case strengthens your case as it percolates up through the 9th Circuit and eventually gets to the Supreme Court.

Judge Walker's decision striking down Prop 8 was a masterful take down of legalized bigotry and long overdue. But rest assured, like the Cylons, the faith based haters will be back in overwhelming force to try to overturn Perry vs. Schwarzenegger.

And like Brother Cavil and the Cylons, they will fail once again.

Because not only are they on the wrong side of the moral arc of history, they will lose because you can't declare war on love.

Crossposted from The Bilerico Project

Do I Miss Louisville?

It's been a few months since I left Da Ville to move back to H-town to the cheers of the people living inside Harris County and the sorrow of the folks living inside Jefferson County.

Jefferson County, Kentucky that is, AKA Louisville Metro.

Well, as I'm getting reacclimated to life in Houston, getting reacquainted with old friends and meeting new ones, the flip side is that I miss the friendships and relationships I established during my time in Louisville.

I miss doing some of the things that became traditions for me as well. In a few weeks Carla Wallace's Lawn Party will happen on Labor Day weekend. It's a event that progressive Louisville doesn't miss, especially during an election season.

The same is true for the St. James Court Art Show in October.

I miss the Friday night dinners with Polar and Dawn, those long conversations I used to have with both of them on various occasions, my other roomies nieces Heather and Amanda, and Mama Bear too, AKA Polar's wife.

I also miss 'sliiiiiiding into Edenside' to spend some time with Rev. Sally McClain and my church family there. I loved watching her more than hold her own with the boys as a panelist on The Moral Side of the News show.

You have to be a member of Edenside to get the joke. It came from me DJing for the church during Bardstown Aglow one year.

I miss my sistahgirls Shaha, Angie, Aletha, Chrystal, Dr. Kaila and various people in the GLBT community in the state. I also miss the road trips me Dawn and Polar would do to Lexington and various places in the area.

And it's really going to hit me when the fall campaign heats up and I'm not part of the endorsement interview teams for C-FAIR, on the U of L campus speaking or taking part in various events and the new arena opens up in a few months for the upcoming U of L basketball season..

I could do the same here for the HGLPC, but it's going to take time for me to get replugged in to all the networks and the Houston progressive scene like I was up there and realistically it'll probably be next year or 2012 before I can.

While I had my moments, good, bad and indifferent in Louisville, I did meet a lot of wonderful people, get to know some a lot better, and for 8 years had the pleasure of not hearing my old name for almost a decade. That did wonders for my development as the Phenomenal Transwoman.

And yes, this blog started while I was up there.

So do I miss Da Ville? Yep.

Vandy Beth Gets Her Job Back....But

And there is a but in this discrimination case.

Glenn gets her job back, with salary, seniority and benefits but her transphobic boss wants her to stay home. An agreement was reached in federal court Friday in which Vandy Beth Glenn will be reinstated to her Georgia legislative editor job.

But since Sewell Brumby, the man who fired her three years ago and jumped this mess off in the first place is once again technically her boss, it was thought best that since Brumby is appealing Judge Richard Story's order, the potentially awkward situation be avoided.

Especially in light of what Brumby said about Glenn in a deposition taken last year according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

“It makes me think about things I don’t like to think about, particularly at work … I think it’s unsettling to think of someone dressed in women’s clothing with male sexual organs inside that clothing.”

Discrimination costs, people.

The appeal could take up to three years to sort out, so stay tuned for the ongoing story and results from this peachy trial.

Upcoming TransFaith In Color Summit 2010

Unfortunately I had to decline an invite to speak at this event due to a scheduling conflict with my impending 30 year high school reunion, but for those of you who are in or can get to the Left Coast for this one, it might be worth your time and effort to do so.

It's the 2010 TransFaith in Color Summit, and it will be taking place in Los Angeles on October 8-10 at the Radisson Hotel. Address is 6161 West Centinela Avenue in Culver City, CA.

The group organizing it is the North Carolina based Freedom Center for Social Justice. You can e-mail them for further information about this event at info@fscj.org

The mailing address for the Freedom Center for Social Justice is:
P.O. Box 37131
Charlotte, NC 28237

According to the website, there are three goals for this event:

1. Bring the talent and efforts of transgender communities of color more to the center of the work already being done by many within the broader transgender community. More specifically, this effort will expand the network and thus leverage efforts and resources in a more effective and efficient manner.

2. Strengthen the transgender faith community through training and networking. This will be done in ways that will help individuals with their personal journeys, while initiating change within and between communities of faith. It will support ongoing work aimed at creating more welcoming and truly inclusive communities of faith.

3. Develop and implement of a survey that will provide greater insight into the needs and opportunities that exist for transgender people of faith and others. this work will, in turn, yield a final report that will provide leaders in faith communities with ways to enhance the service to and experience of transgender people of faith, as well as aid socio-political activists at the policy level.

One point that is repeatedly missed in the broader trans community is the faith of transpeople of color is an integral part of their lives.

The knee jerk bashing of religion by some trans people is a factor in one of the many reasons why some POC trans people shy away from participating in the trans movement.

It's Hell To Be Trans In Some Countries

While we and yours truly gripe about the pace of our social and legal progress as transpeople residing in the United States. I don't forget in some parts of the world it's hell to be trans.

Here's a 2008 video of a transwoman in Kyrgyzstan named Labyrs discussing what was done to her.

TRIGGER ALERT for some of the stuff she describes.

IFGE Trinity Award Winners List

I've talked about the IFGE Trinity Awards in numerous TransGriot posts and winning my own on more than a few occasions.

Some of you may be asking yourselves, 'What's a Trinity Award?'

Since 1991 the Trinity Award has been sponsored by the US based International Foundation For Gender Education (IFGE). The Trinity Award acknowledges heroes and heroines of the transgender community and is given to the recipients at an awards luncheon during the annual IFGE convention.

The eligibility rules for this award are inclusive. Transpeople and our allies are eligible to receive it and can be any living individual or couple.

The goal of IFGE is to look for or highlight little known or unacknowledged people who have done something extraordinary. It is also one of the highest awards the US trans community gives for service to it along with the Virginia Prince Award.

The Trinity recipients are in the words of the criteria statement for the award, people who have preformed extraordinary acts of love and courage for our community.

And some of those Trinity recipients are still making major contributions to the trans community and have gone on to win Virginia Princes.

Now that you have a little background into what the Trinity Award is, here's a current list of the people who have won it.

1991- Mariette Pathy Allen, Stanley Biber, M.D., The Boulton & Park Society*, Yvonne Cook, Sheila Kirk M.D., Ellen Summers

1992- The Be All You Want To Be Convention*, Eve Burchert, Richard F. Docter Ph.D., Wendi Danielle Pierce, Jennifer Richards, Janice Van Cleve

1993- Holly Cross, Jane Ellen Fairfax, Phyllis Randolph Frye, Rev. Canon, Clinton R. Jones, Peggy Rudd, Christina Young

1994- Marsha Botzer, Marilyn Irving, Ginny Knuth, Alison Laing, JoAnn Roberts, Wendy Parker

1995- Laura Caldwell, Dallas Denny, Leslie Feinberg, James Green, Linda Peacock, Sharon Ann Stuart

1996- Sandra Cole, Jane Fee, Joan Sheldon

1997- Linda Buten, Nancy R. Nangeroni, Vern Bullough, RN, Ph.D.

1998- Holly Boswell, Judy Osborne, Sharon & Abby Saypen

1999- JoAnne Law, Maxwell Anderson, Kate Bornstein

2000- Anthony Barreto-Neto, Dawn Wilson, Mary Boenke

2001- Holly Ryan, Julie Ann Johnson, Penni Ashe Matz, Joan Goodnight

2002- Winnie Brant, Marisa Richmond Ph.D., Courtney Sharp, Jason Cromwell

2003- Dorothy Laing, Dr. Barbara Warren, Monica Helms

2004- Julie Johnson, Angela Brightfeather, Brenda Thomas

2005- Vanessa Edwards Foster, Mara Keisling, Kenneth Dollarhide,

2006- Monica Roberts, Miranda Stevens-Miller, Gordene MacKenzie

2007- Donna Rose, Miqqi Gilbert, Alyson Meisleman

2008- Shannon Minter, Denise LeClair, Cheryl Costa

2009- Lisa Mottet, Gunnar Scott, Spencer Bergstedt

2010- Earline Budd, Jennifer Barge, Laura Calvo


Looking forward to finding out who will be in the Trinity Awards Class of 2011.

Are You Smarter Than A Teabagger?

Are you smarter than a teabagger? Just thought as a TransGriot public service I should show you photographic evidence of some of the ignorance proudly on display at your local teabagger rallies.



Did the USA add seven more states I'm not aware of?



A failing grade in home schooled spelling.



This one can't even spell the N-word correctly.



That is spelled T-H-A-T



Take your own advice, teabagging MORON.

Are you smarter than a teabagger? Then vote on November 2 in massive numbers and prove it. The country you save may be your own.

Tyra Hunter Death 15th Anniversary

Today marks another sad anniversary.

It's the 15th anniversary of the death of Tyra Hunter on August 7, 1995 at the hands of Washington DC transphobes.

Transphobes who sadly held the titles of doctor, nurse and emergency medical technician.

While her mother Margie Hunter eventually won a multimillion dollar settlement for EMT Adrian Williams' reprehensible actions at the corner of 50th and C Streets in Southeast DC, I'd wager she'd be willing to give up every penny to have her child back.

Unfortunately the lack of medical treatment and medical transphobia that prematurely ended Tyra's life is still being experienced by transpeople 15 years later.

A protest sadly will be taking place in front of Ball Memorial Hospital in Muncie, IN on August 17 to detail another instance of medical personnel behaving badly.

Transpeople continue to be disrespected and refused needed treatment by transphobic people in the medical profession. That lack of compassionate treatment and disrespect can have serious consequences not only for our health, but for people's lives.

People in the medical profession need to have the message driven home to them that your faith based hatred of transpeople does not override your responsibilities to expeditiously do your job in an emergency situation, and do no harm to that trans patient.

If it takes them losing some money out of their wallets and purses or pickets in front of medical facilities that disrespect us to drive that message home, then so be it.

Medical transphobia has the potential to kill people, and we owe it to Tyra Hunter's memory to make sure the medical profession and society at large hears that message.