Shortly after ten o'clock on New Years Eve, 1993, Anna Mae Lambert arrives at her daughter's house. From outside, she could hear her grandson Tanner crying, so after she tried to knock on the door, she entered. The first thing that drew her attention was the dead body of an African-American man laying in the living room. Thinking the worse, she ran back to the bedroom where the infant was crying. After lifting him from his crib, she turned around and saw two more dead bodies. One, she could see, belonged to her daughter Lisa. The other body belonged to someone else, and she couldn't tell if it was male or female.
She called the police first from the bedroom and then after taking the child into the kitchen to find some formula, she dialed again. The police arrived while Anna was feeding the infant in the kitchen. The two were sent to the hospital to get checked out, while officers went through the crime scene.
The male who lay dead in the living room was identified as Phillip Devine. The other figure in the bedroom next to Lisa Lambert was recognized by one of the police officers. He knew her name to be Tina Brandon because she had filed a rape and kidnapping charge around Christmas against two men named John Lotter and Thomas Nissen. It would not be long before those two were arrested and charged also with her murder.
None of this would have made the national media spotlight had it not been for one minor thing - Tina Brandon's gender identity issues. She was the same person that many knew as Brandon Teena. Teena would soon become the main focal point for everything that happened that night.
Had it not been for the 1999 movie, Boys Don't Cry, the story of Teena Brandon would still likely be completely unknown. Shortly after the production of this movie, several popular documentaries were made about the life of Teena Brandon. When most people hear the name Teena Brandon (or, Brandon Teena), the first image most people conjure is of the character Hillary Swank played in Boys Don't Cry.
Following the release of the movie, many people depicted in the film complained about how they were portrayed. For example, According to CNN, Lana Tisdel sued the filmmakers for slander, saying the film portrayed her as “lazy ... and a skanky snake” and implying that Lana turned sexual favors for alcohol. Her lawsuit also noted the false accusation that she had fallen asleep at the crime scene and did nothing about the murder.
Many of the residents of Twin Falls, Nebraska were outraged by the film as well after being portrayed as a town full of drunks. The local newspaper was filled with criticisms about the movie after its release.
JoAnn Brandon, the mother of Teena, was outraged by the film for several reasons. For example, she told the press that she was sick and tired of hearing about how much money the filmmakers were making, when she couldn't even afford the cost of her daughter's burial. JoAnn says the movie did not portray her daughter accurately, stating the filmmakers had not attempted to interview her, or any of her daughter's friends while they were writing or filming. She was also outraged at the notion presented by the movie that suggested the reason Teena had gender identity issues was because she had been sexually attacked by a man. To her, this notion was absurd.
The filmmaker, Kimberly Pierce, has stated on several occasions that certain liberties were taken in the writing and filming of the movie, such as the complete exclusion of Phillip Devine, the third victim. She admitted to changing minor details to making things seem more dramatic or interesting.
Several Nebraska newspapers included articles with reactions from various relatives of the people portrayed in the story, and in each case, they led us to believe the storyline couldn't be farther from the truth. When Sarah Nissen, the cousin of Tom Nissen, was asked about the accuracy of the movie, she replied "There's none of it that's right," she said. "It was just weird."
One of the most reported facts on the events which led up to the murder of Teena Brandon was the rape charges filed the day after Christmas. While it is true that Teena Brandon did file kidnapping and rape charges, there is some doubt about the exact nature of the rape. Teena was hanging around with a group of friends that thought she was male. This included John Lotter, Tom Nissen, and John Lotter's ex-girlfriend Lana Tisdel, just to name a few. Lana did not seem to react badly to the news that the person she had been dating was a biological female, John and Tom seemed to become enraged. They wanted to know the truth, and after finding out about several of Teena's lies, they confronted her. They took her out to a secluded area and forced her to take off her pants. According to Teena, they raped her both anally and vaginally. After that, they left. Teena made her way back into town on her own and spoke with police, claiming kidnapping and rape.
Another issue surrounding the accuracy of the movie comes from Teena Brandon's criminal record. While the film did make a light note of her criminal history, the film made no references to any alleged criminal activity closer to the time of her death. The film barely mentioned the circumstances around the forged checks which eventually led to the disclosure of her gender. Portraying someone as forging checks to buy food or cigarettes when money was short is nothing more than a lame attempt to play at the public's heart strings. In fact, Teena Brandon had a fairly lengthy criminal record with charges ranking from auto theft, check forging, and public indecency, just to name a few.
Many people believe that Teena Brandon was the victim of a hate crime. Their views, which have often been reported in the news media, include the belief that Teena was murdered because she was living her life as a boy, that she was having sexual relations with other girls including the ex-girlfriend of one of the men who murdered her. This has helped to bring issues such as homophobia, transgenderism, and gender identity disorder into the spotlight.
There is no question that transgenderism and gender identity were important factors in the life (and death) of Teena Brandon, and it is clearly the most sensational. But, it is important to remember that they were not the only important factors. Thus, the question gets raised if Teena Brandon's murder was a hate crime? If one looks at just a few elements of the story (that Teena was murdered after her killers found out she was transgendered), the story clearly resembles a hate crime. However, if we look at the entire picture, a completely different theme appears.
Before her arrest, everyone thought Teena was a boy named Brandon. Lana had once already partially uncovered Teena's gender identity issue, however Teena explained it away that she was a hemaphrodite. After the arrest, she changed her tune, claiming to be a female to male transexual. Lana didn't seem to know what to believe, however she stuck by Brandon because she liked him.
It wasn't until Tom and John got drunk at a Christmas Eve party that they tried to force the issue. Part of the reason they were angry was because they mistrusted her. They considered her a freak. However, they were also aware of parts of her criminal history. They just did not know what to think. Several of her stories about herself and her past were starting to unravel.
Another interesting thing to note was John's history with Lana. He still loved her, and it was hard for him to think of her with another person, no matter who that person was - male, female, transgendered, or otherwise. When Lana and Teena first met, Lana was still dating John. It was likely that John felt not only abandoned by his girlfriend Lana, but also betrayed by his friend Brandon.
First, John and Tom cornered Brandon and forced him to drop his pants. But, for the two drunk men - they were still not satisfied. After a few people started to leave the party, they took Teena out to a secluded spot near a school and forced him to take off his pants again. According to Teena's account, this was where she was repetitively raped and beaten. Tom and John threatened her should she decide to go to the police, however Lana urged her to do just that.
First, Teena was checked out medically, and then she went in to give her police statement. The interview was partially taped by the officer, however the end of the tape had been taped over before things finally came to light. From what remains of the audiotape, it is clear that the officer focused more on the gender issue than on any facts relevant to the rape. In fact, he even went on to suggest that Teena must have come onto John to get him going. The officer repetitively called Teena "It" instead of either him or her. He would ask her why she tried to get people to think she was a boy and why she kissed girls.
For several days after Teena spoke with the police about the rape, the police did little, if anything, about it. Teena's sister Tammy even called the police, however they seemed upset that she would call, telling her that they would handle things as they saw fit. The truth of the matter was that John and Tom each had a criminal history of interpersonal violence, public drunkeness, and it was well known among town that the two men had psychological problems.
In fact, on the day after the rape, John and Tom headed out to find Brandon after arming themselves with a hatchet, some rope, and a change of clothing. They, however, were unable to find Brandon.
A few days later, John and Tom did go to the police station to give their stations. There was much confusion about conflicting statements, and the manner in which John and Tom each seemed to nudge each other made their true intentions pretty clear.
The day before her murder, Teena was supposed to go to the police station for a followup interview, however, when she arrived, she saw that John was there, so she never actually went inside. Instead, she telephoned her mother. During their conversation, Teena promised to be home in a few days and reassured her mother that everything would be alright.
On New Years Eve, John and Tom picked up some better weapons, including a gun, and arrived at Lana's house, where they believed Brandon was hiding. She wasn't there, however Lana's mother said they might be at Lisa's house. She knew something was amiss, but did not seem to want to become involved.
Phillip DeVine had only been in Nebraska for a short while. He was dating Lisa, and had been in the company of Tom and John on at leat one other occasion. On a rather strange note, several people said that Phillip DeVine's involvement was paramount to understanding the the story surrounding Teena's death. This was likely partially due to the nature of the relationship between Lisa and Phillip. However, it is fairly clear that those who survived strongly believe there is more to the story than the public has been made aware.
After killing three people, John and Tom left the crime scene, and attempted to dispose of the gun, knife, and gloves they had used to kill three people by throwing them in the river. However, the winter chill had frozen over the river, making the recovery of the items fairly easy. The two were directly tied to the incident and were promptly arrested.
When one takes into account all the facts entered into evidence, the notion of Teena Brandon's murder being a hate crime pales in comparison to that of two mentally dysfunctionally men taking their rage and fustration out on someone who not only they did not understand, but also someone who, as quite possibly in John's mind, had stolen his girlfriend. The men had clearly threatened to harm Teena (Brandon) if she would go to the police, which she did, and they made good on that threat.
A Hate Crime can be defined as a crime committed because someone belongs to a minority group or is suspected of being different. However, if you ask yourself to forget about Teena's gender confusion, would the crime still likely occur? Was Teena murdered because of gender confusion or because she told the police about her rape?
© 2004; Corky McGraw