Throughout June, WTOP is celebrating Pride and recognizing and honoring the rich history and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community in the region.

Earline Budd was honored at the World Pride Welcome Center on Wednesday night for her efforts to advocate on behalf of trans and civil rights.

Budd, a longtime D.C. resident, began her advocacy career around 1995, when Tyra Hunter, a trans woman, was critically injured in a car crash.

According to witnesses, first responders stopped treating Hunter when they found she had male genitalia.

Hunter died about an hour after arriving at the hospital.

“What I remember is that it was a very tedious moment for us all, after Tyra went through what she went through. And, again, Tyra’s death kind of set the stage for me today to be who I am,” Budd said.

Th

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