Murder of Houston Transgender Woman Raises Media Coverage Concerns

Meghan Stabler reports at HRC Back Story:

One week ago today the half-naked body of Myra Ical, a 51-year-old transgender woman was found in a vacant lot in the Montrose area of Houston. Initial media reports referred to Myra by her male name and used male pronouns along with placing emphasis that her body was found in an area known for drugs and prostitution. The Houston Chronicle reported that Ruben Dario Ical “also went by the name of Myra Chanel Ical” and that “he had numerous bruises and defensive wounds, as if he had struggled against his attacker.” Myra’s attacker remains at large and this represents the 7th Houston transgender murder case in the last few years that has still to be resolved.

The brutal attack on her is devastating to the community. Yet much like the ‘shot heard around the world,’ initial media reporting that was lazy and irresponsible then propagated bad journalism as it was reused across media outlets. The majority of the reports showed the amount of ignorance about transgender issues that is rampant among far too many reporters despite the existence of resources to help them report accurately.