View source for Brandon Teena

{{short description|American murder victim (1972–1993)}}
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{{Use American English|date=July 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Brandon Teena
| image              = BrandonTeena.jpg
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1972|12|12}}
| birth_place        = [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1993|12|31|1972|12|12}}
| death_place        = [[Humboldt, Nebraska]], U.S.
| death_cause        = [[Murder]] by [[gunshot wound|gunshots]] and [[stabbing]]
| education          = <!-- Education and alma_mater are intended for higher learning, not high schools or grade schools, unless there is Talk page consensus to include it. -->
| other_names        = Billy Brinson
| known_for          = Hate crime murder victim
}}
'''Brandon Teena'''{{efn|Since "Brandon Teena" was never his legal name, it is uncertain the extent to which this name was used before his death. Stacey D'Erasmo of ''[[Out (magazine)|Out]]'' stated that Teena did not call himself "Brandon Teena".<ref>{{cite journal|last=D'Erasmo|first=Stacey|title=Boy Interrupted|journal=[[Out (magazine)|Out]]|date=October 1999|publisher=[[Here Publishing]]|volume=8|issue=4|issn=1062-7928|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gWIEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA66 66]|quote=Brandon became famous as "Brandon Teena," though it wasn't a name he ever used in life,[...]}}</ref> 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 "Teena Ray".}} (December 12, 1972 – December 31, 1993) was an American [[transgender man]] who was raped and later, along with Phillip DeVine and Lisa Lambert, murdered in [[Humboldt, Nebraska]], by John Lotter and Tom Nissen.<ref name="8thcircuit">{{cite web |url=http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=8th&navby=docket&no=973708p |title=U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals – JoAnn Brandon v Charles B. Laux |access-date=December 7, 2006 |work=[[FindLaw]] |archive-date=March 6, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090306204601/http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=8th&navby=docket&no=973708p |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2000/03/brandon.html|title=Boys Do Cry|author=Howey, Noelle|date=March 22, 2000|access-date=December 7, 2006|magazine=[[Mother Jones (magazine)|Mother Jones]]|archive-date=October 26, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081026124903/http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2000/03/brandon.html|url-status=live}}</ref> His life and death are the subject of the films ''[[The Brandon Teena Story]]'' and ''[[Boys Don't Cry (1999 film)|Boys Don't Cry]]''. Teena's<!-- NOTE: "Teena" is used throughout this article as the surname, per MOS:SURNAME, not as an attempt to misgender the subject. --> murder, along with that of [[Matthew Shepard]] nearly five years later, led to increased lobbying for [[hate crime laws in the United States]].<ref name="nyacyouth.org">[http://www.nyacyouth.org/pages.php?id=9 "Hate crimes legislation updates and information: Background information on the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA)"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120323063230/http://www.nyacyouth.org/pages.php?id=9 |date=March 23, 2012 }}. National Youth Advocacy Coalition. Retrieved December 2, 2011.</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/130734/transgender-celebrities-actors-athletes-in-america/|title=25 Transgender People Who Influenced American Culture|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=December 13, 2016|archive-date=September 29, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929213051/http://time.com/130734/transgender-celebrities-actors-athletes-in-america/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Life==
Brandon Teena was born on December 12, 1972, in [[Lincoln, Nebraska]], to JoAnn Brandon.<ref name=TruBrandon>{{cite web |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/2.html |title=The Brandon Teena Story: Teena or Brandon? |last=Ramsland |first=Katherine |publisher=[[TruTV]] |archive-date=December 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214094908/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/2.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Humboldt>{{cite magazine|last=Dunne|first=John Gregory|date=January 13, 1997|title=The Humboldt Murders|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/01/13/the-humboldt-murders|access-date=January 25, 2018|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|archive-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102190519/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/01/13/the-humboldt-murders|url-status=live}}</ref> His father died in a car accident in [[Lancaster County, Nebraska|Lancaster County]] eight months before he was born, and he was raised by his mother.<ref name="deceiver">{{Cite journal|last=Konigsberg|first=Eric|date=January 1995|title=Death of a Deceiver: The True Story of Teena Brandon|journal=Playboy}}</ref>  Teena and his older sister Tammy lived with their maternal grandmother in Lincoln, before they were reclaimed by their mother when he was three years old and Tammy was six. The family resided in the Pine Acre Mobile Home Park in northeast Lincoln. JoAnn received disability checks<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brandon-Teena|title=Brandon Teena|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=June 10, 2019|archive-date=November 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130182251/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Brandon-Teena|url-status=live}}</ref> and worked as a clerk in a women's retail store in Lincoln to support the family. As young children, both siblings were sexually abused by their uncle for several years,<ref name="deceiver"/><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=WZlDpR0L3gwC&pg=PA77 Sloop, John ''Rhetorics of sex identity in contemporary U.S. culture'', page 77] at Google Books</ref> and Teena sought counseling for this in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/boysdontcry.php|title=Teena Brandon / Brandon Teena – Boys Don't Cry|access-date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=August 12, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812210819/http://www.chasingthefrog.com/reelfaces/boysdontcry.php|url-status=live}}</ref> JoAnn remarried in 1975, divorcing in 1980.<ref name="deceiver"/> Teena's family described him as being a [[tomboy]] since early childhood; he began identifying as male during adolescence and dated a female student during this period. His mother rejected his male identity and continued referring to him as her daughter. On several occasions, he claimed to be [[intersex]].<ref name="Brandon20">{{cite web|url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zU6zjFkS3Pc|title=Brandon Teena…20/20 Downtown (2000)|publisher=YouTube: Clip-o-rama|date=May 21, 2014}}</ref><ref name="trutv"/>

Teena and his sister attended St. Mary's Elementary School and [[Pius X High School (Nebraska)|Pius X High School]] in Lincoln, where some remembered him as being socially awkward. During his second year, he rejected Christianity after he protested to a priest at Pius X regarding Christian views on [[abstinence]] and [[Christianity and homosexuality|homosexuality]]. He also began rebelling at school by violating the school dress-code policy to dress in a more masculine fashion. During the first semester of his senior year, a U.S. Army recruiter visited the high school, encouraging students to enlist in the armed forces. Teena enlisted in the [[United States Army]] shortly after his eighteenth birthday and hoped to serve a [[tour of duty]] in [[Operation Desert Shield]]. However, he failed the written entrance exam by listing his sex as male.<ref name="deceiver"/>

In December 1990, Teena went to Holiday Skate Park with his friends, [[breast binding|binding his chest]] to [[passing (gender)|pass]] as male. In the months nearing his high school graduation, he became unusually outgoing and was remembered by classmates as a "class clown." He also began skipping school and receiving failing grades. He was expelled from Pius X High School in June 1991, three days before graduation.<ref name="deceiver"/>

In mid-1991, Teena began his first serious relationship, with a girl named Heather. Shortly after, he secured employment as a gas station attendant in an attempt to secure funds to purchase a trailer home for himself and his girlfriend. However, his mother disapproved of the relationship and convinced her daughter Tammy to follow Teena to determine whether his relationship with Heather was platonic or sexual.<ref name="deceiver"/>

In January 1992, Teena underwent a [[psychiatric evaluation]], which concluded that he had a severe "[[sexual identity]] crisis". He was later taken to the Lancaster County Crisis Center to ensure that he was not suicidal. He was released from the center three days later and began attending therapy sessions, sometimes accompanied by his mother or sister. He was reluctant to discuss his sexuality during these sessions but revealed that he had been raped. The sessions ended after two weeks.<ref name="deceiver"/>

In 1993, after some legal trouble, Teena moved to the [[Falls City, Nebraska|Falls City]] region of [[Richardson County, Nebraska]], where he presented as a man. He became friends with several residents.<ref name=Humboldt/>  After moving into the home of Lisa Lambert,<ref name=TruBrandon/><ref name=Humboldt/> Teena began dating Lambert's friend, 19-year-old [[Lana Tisdel]],<ref name=TruBrandon/><ref name=Humboldt/><ref name=TeenaVoice/> and began associating with ex-convicts John L. Lotter (born May 31, 1971) and Marvin Thomas "Tom" Nissen (born October 22, 1971).<ref name=TruBrandon/><ref name=Humboldt/>

On December 19, 1993, Teena was arrested for [[forgery|forging]] checks; Tisdel used money from her father to pay his bail.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jones|first1=Aphrodite|title=All She Wanted|url=https://archive.org/details/allshewanted00jone|url-access=registration|date=1996 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-0-671-02388-1 |edition=Reprint }}</ref> Because Teena was in the female section of the jail, Tisdel learned that he was [[transgender]]. When Tisdel later questioned him about his [[gender]], he told her he was a [[Intersex|hermaphrodite]] pursuing a [[sex change operation]], and they continued dating.<ref name="Brandon20"/><ref name="trutv">{{cite web |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/1.html |title=The Teena Brandon Story: A Grisly Find |last=Ramsland |first=Katherine |publisher=[[TruTV]] |archive-date=December 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214084943/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/1.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> In a lawsuit regarding the film adaptation ''[[Boys Don't Cry (1999 film)|Boys Don't Cry]]'', this was disputed by Tisdel.<ref name="suntimes-filmlawsuit">{{cite news|title=Brandon film lawsuit settled |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000311/ai_n13848099 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071016104201/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20000311/ai_n13848099 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |date=March 11, 2000 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |access-date=February 22, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="age-doubles">{{cite news|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/03/01/1014704987942.html|title=Seeing doubles|last=Hawker|first=Philippa|date=March 1, 2002|newspaper=[[The Age]]|access-date=February 22, 2009|location=Melbourne|archive-date=December 28, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181228233426/https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/seeing-doubles-20020301-gdu0ft.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Teena's arrest was posted in the local paper under his [[Dead name|birth name]] and thereupon his acquaintances learned that he was [[sex assignment|assigned female at birth]].<ref name=TeenaVoice>{{cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/20/how-i-broke-and-botched-the-brandon-teena-story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620152059/https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/06/20/how-i-broke-and-botched-the-brandon-teena-story/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 20, 2018|last=Minkowitz|first=Donna|title=How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story|publisher=[[Village Voice]]|date=June 20, 2018}}</ref>

==Rape and murder==
During a [[Christmas Eve]] party, Nissen and Lotter grabbed Teena and forced him to remove his pants, proving to Tisdel that he had a [[vulva]]. Tisdel looked only when forced to and said nothing. Lotter and Nissen later assaulted Teena and forced him into a car. They drove to an area by a meat-packing plant in Richardson County, where they assaulted and gang-raped him. They then returned to Nissen's home, where Teena was ordered to take a shower. He escaped from Nissen's bathroom by climbing out the window and going to Tisdel's house. He was convinced by Tisdel to file a police report, though Nissen and Lotter had warned Teena they would kill him if he did so. Teena also went to the emergency room, where a standard [[rape kit]] was assembled but later lost. Sheriff Charles B. Laux questioned Teena about the rape. Reportedly, he seemed especially interested in his [[transgender]] status, to the point that Teena found his questions rude and unnecessary and refused to answer. Nissen and Lotter were taken in for police questioning. Despite ample evidence, Laux neglected to arrest and charge Nissen and Lotter, and Laux told them both a rape had been reported.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Markel |first1=Katrina |title=The Legacy Of The "Boys Don't Cry" Hate Crime 20 Years Later |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/katrinamarkel/the-legacy-of-the-boys-dont-cry-hate-crime-20-years-later |website=www.buzzfeed.com |publisher=BuzzFeed |access-date=31 December 2023 |language=en |date=10 January 2014 |archive-date=September 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930035757/https://www.buzzfeed.com/katrinamarkel/the-legacy-of-the-boys-dont-cry-hate-crime-20-years-later |url-status=live }}</ref> Laux declined to have them arrested because, "What kind of a person was she? The first few times we arrested her, she was putting herself off as a guy."<ref name=TeenaVoice/> Teena's mother later filed a wrongful death suit, where the Nebraska Supreme Court found Laux's inaction resulted in Teena's death (''see {{section link||Cultural and legal legacy}} for more information'').<ref name=TeenaVoice />

Around 1:00&nbsp;a.m. on December 31, 1993, Nissen and Lotter drove to Lambert's house and broke in. They found Lambert in bed and demanded to know where Teena was. Lambert refused to tell them. Nissen searched and found him hiding under a blanket at the foot of the bed. The men asked Lambert if there was anyone else in the house, and she replied that Phillip DeVine, who at the time was dating Tisdel's sister, was staying with her. The duo then shot Teena in the stomach.<ref name="trutv5">{{cite web |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/5.html |title=Teena Brandon |last=Ramsland |first=Katherine |publisher=[[TruTV]] |archive-date=December 14, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131214094602/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/not_guilty/brandon/5.html |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nissen testified in court that he had noticed that Teena was twitching, and asked Lotter for a knife, with which Nissen stabbed Teena in the chest, to ensure that he was dead.<ref>{{cite video|title = The Brandon Teena Story| people = Directed by Susan Muska and Gréta Olafsdóttir|medium=film|publisher=Bless Bless Productions|date=1998}}</ref><ref name=JournalStar>Beck, Margery A. [http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_4327fe4b-4e1f-59ef-b3bb-a4939362bca3.html "Panel rejects death row inmate Lotter's appeal"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221011106/http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_4327fe4b-4e1f-59ef-b3bb-a4939362bca3.html |date=February 21, 2020 }}. ''[[Lincoln Journal Star]]''. August 24, 2011</ref> Nissen later testified that he shot Lambert in the stomach. After leaving the room to find DeVine, and then returning with him, Nissen shot Lambert a second time. The two men then took DeVine into the living room, sat him on the couch, and shot him twice. Nissen then returned to the bedroom where he shot Lambert a few more times. The two men then left, threw their weapons and gloves onto a frozen river, and returned to Falls City. They were arrested that afternoon, after which Nissen told deputies that he had witnessed John Lotter shoot three people to death in Humboldt. Police went to the river, where they retrieved the gloves and weapons, including the knife's sheath marked with Lotter's name, tying them to the crime.<ref name="trutv5"/>

Brandon Teena is buried in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska. His headstone is inscribed with his [[deadname]] and the epitaph ''daughter, sister, & friend''.<ref>Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Location 5192). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition</ref>

Nissen accused Lotter of committing the murders. In exchange for a reduced sentence, Nissen admitted to being an accessory to the rape and murder. Nissen testified against Lotter and was sentenced to [[life in prison]]. Lotter denied the veracity of Nissen's testimony, and his testimony was discredited. The jury found Lotter guilty of murder and sentenced him to [[Capital punishment in Nebraska|death]]. Lotter and Nissen both appealed their convictions. In September 2007, Nissen recanted his testimony against Lotter. He claimed that he was the only one to shoot Teena and that Lotter had not committed the murders.<ref name="recant">{{cite news | last = Jenkins | first = Nate | title = Inmate Recants Teena Brandon Story | publisher = [[Associated Press]] | date = September 20, 2007 | url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-20-recant-murder_N.htm | access-date = March 1, 2010 | archive-date = May 16, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110516212907/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-20-recant-murder_N.htm | url-status = live }}</ref> In 2009, Lotter's appeal, using Nissen's new testimony to assert a claim of innocence, was rejected by the [[Nebraska Supreme Court]], which held that since—even under Nissen's revised testimony—both Lotter and Nissen were involved in the murder, the specific identity of the shooter was legally irrelevant.<ref name="innocence_appeal">{{cite court |litigants=State of Nebraska v. Lotter |vol=771 |reporter=N.W.2d |opinion=551 |pinpoint=564 |court=Neb. |date=2009 |url= |quote={{bracket|B}}ecause of the joint participation in the felony and the reckless indifference to human life, it is irrelevant to the degree of culpability by whose hand the victims died.}}</ref> In August 2011, a three-judge panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit]] rejected John Lotter's appeal in a split decision.<ref name=JournalStar /> In October 2011, the Eighth Circuit rejected Lotter's request for a rehearing by the panel or the full Eighth Circuit ''[[en banc]]''.<ref name="JournalStar2">{{cite news | url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/th-circuit-denies-lotter-s-request-for-rehearing/article_fb9421ba-17d3-536b-ac4c-d65316d3bb99.html | title=8th Circuit denies Lotter's request for rehearing | work=[[Lincoln Journal Star]] | date=October 31, 2011 | access-date=March 28, 2013 | author=Pilger, Lori | location=[[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]], Nebraska | archive-date=February 21, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221011106/https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/th-circuit-denies-lotter-s-request-for-rehearing/article_fb9421ba-17d3-536b-ac4c-d65316d3bb99.html | url-status=live }}</ref> Lotter next petitioned the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] for a review of his case. The Supreme Court declined to review Lotter's case, denying his petition for [[writ of certiorari]] on March 19, 2012, and a further petition for rehearing on April 23, 2012,<ref name=JournalStar3>{{cite news|last=Pilger|first=Lori|title=Supreme Court turns down review of Lotter case|url=http://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/supreme-court-turns-down-review-of-lotter-case/article_77c280e8-6ee9-5e26-9a0e-71ec4d4d617f.html|access-date=March 28, 2013|newspaper=[[Lincoln Journal Star]]|date=March 26, 2012|location=[[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]], Nebraska|archive-date=February 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221011106/https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/supreme-court-turns-down-review-of-lotter-case/article_77c280e8-6ee9-5e26-9a0e-71ec4d4d617f.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SCOTUS">{{cite web | url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/11-8458.htm | title=John L. Lotter, Petitioner v. Robert Houston, Warden | publisher=[[Supreme Court of the United States]] | date=April 23, 2012 | access-date=March 28, 2013 | archive-date=March 8, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308201052/https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=%2Fdocketfiles%2F11-8458.htm | url-status=live }}</ref> leaving his conviction to stand. On January 22, 2018, Lotter was denied a third appeal by the U.S. Supreme Court.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://journalstar.com/news/local/911/u-s-supreme-court-wont-take-up-nebraska-death-row-inmates-appeal/article_8d0d6bad-928a-5959-89f5-71543f5f2df0.html|title=U.S. Supreme Court won't take up Nebraska death row inmate's appeal|first=Lori|last=Pilger|website=JournalStar.com|date=January 22, 2018|access-date=September 28, 2020|archive-date=March 15, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240315000304/https://journalstar.com/news/local/911/u-s-supreme-court-wont-take-up-nebraska-death-row-inmates-appeal/article_8d0d6bad-928a-5959-89f5-71543f5f2df0.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Cultural and legal legacy==
Because Teena had neither commenced [[masculinizing hormone therapy|hormone replacement therapy]] nor had [[gender confirmation surgery]], he has sometimes mistakenly been identified as a lesbian by media reporters.<ref>John Gregory Dunne, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/01/13/the-humboldt-murders The Humboldt Murders] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102190519/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/01/13/the-humboldt-murders |date=January 2, 2016 }}. ''The New Yorker'', January 13, 1997.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glaad.org/publications/archive_detail.php?id=2192 |title=Brandon Teena Gets Dunne Wrong |work=GLAAD |access-date=December 7, 2006 |date= January 24, 1997 |publisher=[[Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation]] |quote=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. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091305/http://www.glaad.org/publications/archive_detail.php?id=2192 |archive-date = September 29, 2007}}</ref> However, some reported Teena's plans to have sex reassignment surgery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justicejunction.com/judicial_injustice_brandon_teena_chapter2.htm |title=The Brandon Teena Story: Chapter 2: Brandon |access-date=December 7, 2006 |last=Griffy |first=Anna M. |date=July 4, 2004 |work=The Brandon Teena Story |publisher=Justice Junction |pages=2 |quote=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. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103052846/http://www.justicejunction.com/judicial_injustice_brandon_teena_chapter2.htm |archive-date=November 3, 2006 }}</ref>

Following Lotter's sentencing in February 1996, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' aired a segment in which comedian [[Norm Macdonald]] joked:{{blockquote|And finally, in Falls City, Nebraska, John Lotter has been sentenced to death for attempting to kill three people in what prosecutors called a plot to silence a cross-dressing female who had accused him of rape. Now, this might strike some viewers as harsh, but I believe everyone involved in this story should die.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Joynt |first1=Chase |title=Boys Don't Cry |last2=Page |first2=Morgan M.|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-2280-1081-4 |location=Montreal |chapter=Chapter 3: Take It Like a Man |oclc=1280274171}}</ref>}} The comments were met with sharp criticism from trans and queer communities and organizations including [[The Transexual Menace]], who threatened to picket ''SNL'' in the absence of an apology.<ref>{{cite web|last= Wilchins |first=Riki Anne |title=SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: BRANDON TEENA & FRIENDS "...DESERVED TO DIE."|date=February 28, 1996 |url=http://www.qrd.org/qrd/media/television/1996/snl.slur.response-02.28.96|accessdate=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Send NBC a Message: Murder Is No Joke! Flyer|url=https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xk81jk42v |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601005911/https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xk81jk42v |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |access-date=May 23, 2022 |website=Digital Transgender Archive }}</ref> Upon reviewing the show, NBC agreed the line was inappropriate and should not have aired, and said it would ensure that similar incidents would not happen in the future.<ref>{{Cite news |date=Summer 1996 |title=MENACE AXES NBC PICKET FOR BRANDON TEENA 'JOKE' |pages=3–4|work=In Your Face|url=https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/gx41mh908|access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>

JoAnn Brandon sued Richardson County and Sheriff Laux for failing to prevent Teena's death and being an indirect cause. She won the case, which was heard in September 1999 in Falls City, and was awarded $80,000. District court judge Orville Coady reduced the amount by 85 percent based on the responsibility of Nissen and Lotter and by one percent for Brandon's alleged [[contributory negligence]]. This led to a remaining judgment of responsibility against Richardson County and Laux of $17,360.97.<ref name="friedmanlaw.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.friedmanlaw.com/Articles/Teena-Brandon-An-American-Tragedy.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611174600/http://www.friedmanlaw.com/Articles/Teena-Brandon-An-American-Tragedy.shtml |archive-date=June 11, 2015 |title=Teena Brandon {{bracket|''sic''}}, An American Tragedy |last=Friedman |first=Herbert J. |access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> In 2001, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the reductions of the earlier award reinstating the full $80,000 award for "mental suffering", plus $6,223.20 for funeral costs. In October 2001, the same judge awarded the plaintiff an additional $12,000: $5,000 for [[wrongful death]], and $7,000 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref name="friedmanlaw.com"/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3219591.stm The victims of prejudice] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309131705/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3219591.stm |date=March 9, 2021 }}, B.B.C. News, December 26, 2003,</ref> Laux was also criticized after the murder for his attitude toward Teena – at one point, Laux referred to Teena as "it."<ref>O'Hanlon, Kevin. [https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93519&page=1 "Sheriff Negligent in 'Boys Don't Cry' Death"]. [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]. April 20, 2001,</ref> After the case was over, Laux served as commissioner of Richardson County and later as part of his community's council before retiring as a school bus driver. He refused to speak about his actions in the case and called one reporter who contacted him for a story on the murder's twentieth anniversary "a pain in the ass."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/two-decades-after-brandon-teenas-murder-a-look-back-at-falls-city/282738/|title=Two Decades After Brandon Teena's Murder, a Look Back at Falls City|first=Stephanie|last=Fairyington|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=December 31, 2013|access-date=January 25, 2018|archive-date=February 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215205419/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/two-decades-after-brandon-teenas-murder-a-look-back-at-falls-city/282738/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1999, Teena became the subject of a biographical film entitled ''[[Boys Don't Cry (1999 film)|Boys Don't Cry]]'', directed by [[Kimberly Peirce]] and starring [[Hilary Swank]] as Teena and [[Chloë Sevigny]] as Tisdel. For their performances, Swank won, and Sevigny was nominated for an [[Academy Award]]. Tisdel sued the film's producers for unauthorized use of her name and likeness before the film's release. She claimed 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 discovering that he was transgender. She eventually [[legal settlement|settled]] her lawsuit against the movie's distributor for an undisclosed sum.<ref name="suntimes-filmlawsuit"/><ref name="age-doubles"/>

JoAnn Brandon publicly objected to the media referring to her child as "he" and "Brandon." Following Hilary Swank's Oscar acceptance speech, JoAnn Brandon took offense at Swank for thanking "Brandon Teena" and referring to him as a man. "That set me off," said JoAnn Brandon. "She should not stand up there and thank my child. I get tired of people taking credit for what they don't know."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/mar/29/oscars2000.oscars "Nebraska and India slam Oscar injustices"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308172500/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/mar/29/oscars2000.oscars |date=March 8, 2021 }}. ''[[The Guardian]]''. March 29, 2000,</ref> However, in 2013, JoAnn told a reporter that she accepted Teena being referred to as transgender in the media. Although she was unhappy with how ''Boys Don't Cry'' portrayed the situation, she said about the film, "It gave them [gay and transgender advocates] a platform to voice their opinions, and I'm glad. There were a lot of people who didn't understand what it was [Teena] was going through. We've come a long way." When asked how the murder affects her life today, JoAnn replied, "I wonder how my life would be different if she was still with me. She would be such a joy to have around. She was always such a happy kid. I imagine her being a happy adult," adding she would accept Teena living as a man.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bergin|first1=Nicholas|title=Brandon Teena's mom: 'We've come a long way'|url=http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/brandon-teena-s-mom-we-ve-come-a-long-way/article_aba1f9ec-3459-5654-98a7-d31b66cd9f1c.html|access-date=February 8, 2017|agency=Lincoln Journal Star|date=December 29, 2013|archive-date=September 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924231252/https://journalstar.com/news/local/brandon-teena-s-mom-we-ve-come-a-long-way/article_aba1f9ec-3459-5654-98a7-d31b66cd9f1c.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Brandon'', an interactive web artwork created in 1998 by [[Shu Lea Cheang]], was named for Brandon Teena. The artwork was commissioned by the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]]. Much of the site's content relates to Brandon's story.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/15337|title=Brandon|date=January 1, 1998|work=Guggenheim|access-date=March 3, 2018|language=en-US|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113002413/https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/15337|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[United Kingdom|British]] duo [[Pet Shop Boys]] released a song titled "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on UK issue of ''[[I'm with Stupid (Pet Shop Boys song)|I'm with Stupid]]'') about Teena in 2006. [[Vancouver]]-based pop-punk band [[Hotel Mira]] released the song "Brandon", off their debut 2014 album ''Circulation'', in memory of Brandon Teena.

In 2018, [[Donna Minkowitz]], the journalist whose reporting on Teena's murder first brought the story to a wider audience, wrote a piece for the ''[[Village Voice]]'' in which she expressed her regret for not understanding transgender people when she wrote her original report.<ref name=TeenaVoice/>

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=20em|
* [[Capital punishment in Nebraska]]
* [[Corrective rape]]
* [[Trans bashing]]
* [[Transphobia]]
* [[History of transgender people in the United States]]
* [[History of violence against LGBT people in the United States]]
* [[Transgender Day of Remembrance]]
* [[List of people killed for being transgender]]
* [[Murder of Gwen Araujo]]
* [[Murder of Brianna Ghey]]
}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
*''The Brandon Teena Archive'', [[Jack Halberstam]]
*{{cite web | title = Nebraska Inmate Details: John Lotter| publisher = Nebraska Department of Correction Services | url = http://dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/InmateDisplayServlet?DcsId=47903&showInmateImage=true | access-date = June 1, 2007}}
*{{cite web | title = Nebraska Inmate Details: Thomas Nissen | publisher = Nebraska Department of Correction Services | url = http://dcs-inmatesearch.ne.gov/Corrections/InmateDisplayServlet?DcsId=47203&showInmateImage=true | access-date = June 1, 2007}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*{{cite news|url=http://brandonteena.org/?option=com_content&view=article&Itemid=120&id=57:brandon-teena-murderer-sentenced |title=Brandon Teena Murderer Sentenced |date=February 21, 1996 |last=Gabriel |first=Davina Anne |work=BrandonTeena.org |agency=Janeway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115174500/http://brandonteena.org/?option=com_content&view=article&Itemid=120&id=57%3Abrandon-teena-murderer-sentenced |archive-date=November 15, 2015 |url-status=live }}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090518070144/http://www.friedmanlaw.com/CM/Custom/Articles.asp Brandon – An American Tragedy]. By Herbert J. Friedman, Friedman Law Offices, Nebraska
{{Portalbar|Biography|1990s}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teena, Brandon}}
[[Category:1972 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people]]
[[Category:American transgender men]]
[[Category:American murder victims]]
[[Category:Crimes adapted into films]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Nebraska]]
[[Category:Violence against trans men]]
[[Category:People murdered in Nebraska]]
[[Category:People from Lincoln, Nebraska]]
[[Category:1993 in LGBTQ history]]
[[Category:American victims of anti-LGBTQ hate crimes]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Nebraska]]
[[Category:Deaths by stabbing in the United States]]
[[Category:1993 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:Rapes in the United States]]
[[Category:People from Falls City, Nebraska]]
[[Category:Violence against men in the United States]]
[[Category:Corrective rape]]
[[Category:Rape of males]]