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Brandon Teena

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Brandon Teena
BornDecember 12, 1972
Lincoln, Nebraska
DiedDecember 31, 1993 (aged 21)
Humboldt, Nebraska

Brandon Teena[1] (December 12, 1972 - December 31, 1993), born Teena Renae Brandon in Lincoln, Nebraska, and known simply as Brandon, was a physiological female living as a transsexual man[2] who was raped and eventually murdered[3] in one of the most infamous American hate crimes of the 1990s.[4] Brandon is the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry,[5] which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.[6]

Biography

Childhood

Brandon Teena was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1972. His family has described him as a "tomboy". When Brandon was still living as a girl he was sexually assaulted by a male relative. According to his mother, JoAnn Brandon, she and Brandon sought counseling in 1991.

Brandon began identifying as male in high school and dated several girls. Because he feared rejection and prejudice, Brandon kept his biological sex hidden. Brandon's family had trouble accepting him, partly because he was a chronic liar. His mother rejected his male identity and continued calling Brandon her daughter. Brandon claimed he was intersex several times, but this was later proven to be false.[7][2]

Falls City, Nebraska

In 1993, after some legal trouble, Brandon moved to Falls City region of Richardson County, Nebraska where he identified solely as a male.

Brandon became friends with several local residents of Richardson County. After moving in to the home of girlfriend Lisa Lambert[8], Brandon began dating one of Lambert's friends, Lana Tisdel and associating with ex-convicts John Lotter and Marvin "Tom" Nissen. Nissen was married and had two children. Tisdel and Lotter had been friends since childhood and had dated for awhile several years before. Another man, Phillip DeVine began to date Tisdel’s younger sister, and he also became friends with Brandon.

On December 15, Brandon was jailed for forging checks. Tisdel paid his bail. Because Brandon was in the female section of the jail, Tisdel learned that he was biologically female.

When Tisdel questioned Brandon about his anatomical gender, he told her he was pursuing a sex change operation and they continued dating.[citation needed]

Brandon's arrest was posted in the local paper under his birthname, Teena Brandon. His acquaintances subsequently learned that Brandon was anatomically female.

The rape

During a Christmas Eve party, Nissen and Lotter became drunk. They grabbed Brandon and forced him to remove his pants, to prove to Tisdel that Brandon was female. Tisdel looked only when they forced her to, and she said nothing.

Lotter and Nissen then attacked Brandon, and forced him into a car. They drove to an area by a meat packing plant and beat and raped him. They then returned to Nissen's home.

Brandon escaped from Nissen's bathroom by climbing out the window and went to Lana's. She convinced him to file a police report, though Brandon had been told by Nissen and Lotter to remain silent.

Brandon went to the emergency room , where a standard rape kit was assembled, but later lost. The sheriff at the time, Charles B. Laux, asked Brandon questions about the rape. Reportedly, he seemed especially interested in Brandon’s transsexuality, to the point that Brandon found his questions rude and unnecessary, and began to decline to answer.

Nissen and Lotter learned of the report, and they went after Brandon. However, they failed to find him, and three days later, the police went to question Nissen and Lotter. However, Laux declined to have them arrested, even though both men had former criminal offenses.

The murder

During questioning, Lotter denied ever touching Brandon, and Nissen accused Lotter of raping Brandon, but said that he had simply watched. The two continued to search for Brandon, and so Brandon went to live at Lisa Lambert’s house. Nissen and Lotter learned of his location and Lotter stole a gun from a neighbor. The two men went to Tisdel’s house. Tisdel told them that Brandon wasn’t at her house, but her mother revealed that Brandon was at Lambert’s home.

The two men left for Lambert’s house and forcefully entered it. They found Lambert in bed and demanded to know where Brandon was. Lambert refused to tell them. Nissen searched and found Brandon under the bed. The men asked Lambert if there was anyone else in the house, and she reported that Phillip DeVine was staying with her. DeVine was shot, and killed along with Lambert and Brandon.

The two men then left, but were quickly arrested and charged with murder.

Trial and sentencing

Nissen blamed the rape and murder of Brandon on Lotter. Later, in exchange for a reduced sentence, Nissen admitted to being an accessory to the rape and murder. Nissen testified against Lotter and was given a life sentence. Lotter proceeded to deny the veracity of Nissen’s testimony, but his testimony was discredited. The jury found Lotter guilty of murder and sentenced him to death. Lotter and Nissen both appealed their convictions, and their cases are currently under review.

Aftermath

Because Brandon had neither commenced hormone therapy nor had sex reassignment surgery, he has sometimes been mistakenly identified as a lesbian woman by media reporters.[9] However, some report that Brandon had stated that he planned to have sex reassignment surgery. [10]

JoAnn Brandon sued Charles Laux for failing to prevent the death of Brandon, as well as being an indirect cause of it. She won the case, and was awarded $12,000. [11]

Sherriff Laux was also criticized by other people after the murder for his lack of action and his attitude toward Brandon — at one point Laux referred to Brandon as "it."[12]

Lana Tisdel sued the producers of the film Boys Don't Cry for unauthorized use of her name and likeness before the film's release. She claimed that the film depicted her as "lazy, white trash and a skanky snake." Tisdel also claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after she discovered Teena was anatomically female. She eventually settled her lawsuit against the movie's distributor for an undisclosed sum.

Brandon’s headstone is enscribed with the name "Teena R. Brandon" and the epitaph "daughter, sister, & friend".[13]

In 2006, the British duo Pet Shop Boys released a song called "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on UK issue of I'm with Stupid) about Brandon Teena.

See also

References

  1. ^ Note: - as Brandon Teena was never his legal name, it is uncertain the extent to which this name was used prior to his death. It is the name most commonly used by the press and other media. Other names may include his legal name, as well as "Billy Brenson" and "Tena Ray"
  2. ^ a b Matzner, Andrew. Teena, Brandon (1972-1993). GLBTQ Encyclopedia. Accessed 14 March 2007.
  3. ^ "[[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit|U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals]] JoAnn Brandon v Charles B. Laux". FindLaw. Retrieved 2006-12-07. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  4. ^ Howey, Noelle (2000-03-22). "Boys Do Cry". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2006-12-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ "Boys Don't Cry". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  6. ^ "The Brandon Teena Story". IMDB. Retrieved 2006-12-07.
  7. ^ Ramsland, Katherine. Notorious Murders - Not Guilty? Teena Brandon Accessed 14 March 2007.
  8. ^ Teena or Brandon? - crimelibrary.com
  9. ^ "Brandon Teena Gets Dunne Wrong". Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. 24. Retrieved 2006-12-07. A New Yorker writer does not understand Brandon Teena's transgender identity, and describes him as a "predatory" butch lesbian, referring to him as "her" for most of the piece. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Griffy, Anna M. (4). "The Brandon Teena Story: Chapter 2: Brandon". The Brandon Teena Story. ustice Junction. p. 2. Retrieved 2006-12-07. Teena made her decision for good: she was going to live as a man and began to tell people she was having a sex change operation. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  11. ^ The victims of prejudice, BBC News, 26 December, 2003
  12. ^ Gabriel, Davina Anne (15). "Activists Protest Violence As Lotter Trial Begins". Retrieved 2006-12-07. Laux has also been quoted as saying "you can call it 'it' as far as I'm concerned" when describing Teena. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  13. ^ "Teena R. "Brandon Teena" Brandon". Find A Grave. August 28 2000. Retrieved 2007-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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