I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing. I just could not believe that people could be so cruel and uncaring. These were my exact thoughts when I decided to sit down and watch TV. I noticed a documentary called “The Brandon Teena Story” was on. The description said it was about a trans man named Brandon who was murdered for being himself. I knew I should’ve flipped the channel, but I was both intrigued and disturbed.
I had a feeling my disgust would increase the more I watched, but I was surprised at just how much it did. Brandon Teena was a female-to-male transgender person from Lincoln, Nebraska. He was born Teena Brandon and started cross-dressing at a young age. In other words, Brandon was always seen as a “tomboy” by his family and friends. His family, unfortunately, did not approve of his fluid sexuality or his so-called gender confusion. Brandon was sent to a crisis center for evaluation and was found to be having a “sexual identity crisis.”
This crisis led to a lot of depression of Brandon’s end. After being released from the center, Brandon admitted to his mom that he had been raped by one of his male relatives when he was younger. On top of this, Brandon had long been viewed as a socially awkward individual by his classmates. As time went on in high school, he began taping his breasts down and wearing masculine clothing. Suffice it to say, his peers found this enough of a reason to torment him.
Brandon then began having legal problems. He had become depressed and started forging bad checks. It seems that his main aim in doing this was to provide luxury items and presents for whomever he was dating at the time. In order to keep his girlfriends and friends happy, he would go to whatever length was necessary. This even meant stealing, and Brandon soon had to move to escape harassment from peers and the law.
Shortly after moving to Falls City, Nebraska, Brandon made friends and had even gotten a girlfriend named Lana Tisdel. Brandon, for fear of being rejected, did not tell Lana he had been born a female. Brandon had made a habit of not telling his partners this because of his self-esteem problems surrounding the issue.
When his forgery caught up to him, he was arrested and put in the female section of the jail. This is how Lana found out, but she continued to date him when Brandon claimed he was pursuing a sex change operation.
As I was watching this movie, I kept wishing it had just ended there. All I could think was, “I know there’s more to this movie left, but finally Brandon has found someone who accepts who he is. Why can’t it just stop here?” I knew what was coming, but I didn’t want it to be like that. Brandon had gotten out of jail, and he had a girlfriend who was supportive of him!
Unfortunately, things went downhill almost immediately.
When Brandon had been sent to jail, the local paper posted information about his arrest, including his birth name. In this way, many of the “friends” he had made in the area found out about his gender at birth. Two of these people happened to be ex-convicts who were close friends of Lana and formerly of Brandon. These men were Thomas Nissen and John Lotter.
They demanded that Brandon prove he was a man. They sent Lana into a room to look at his genitals and tell them the truth. Lana lied for Brandon. Later on, at a Christmas Eve party, the two men forced Brandon to strip and Lana to look at his genitals to prove he was female. Shortly afterward, Lana had to run back home for a bit. Lotter had been, of the two men, more upset by what he’d found out. He continued to yell at and threaten Brandon. When Lana left, Brandon looked to Nissen for help because he had kept himself restrained. Little did Brandon know that Nissen was just as bad, if not worse, than Lotter.
When it was the three of them alone, the two men proceeded to brutally beat and rape Brandon. Nissen is the one who began the attack. The men told Brandon they would kill him if he went to law enforcement about this incident. Brandon was finally able to escape and fled to Lana’s house. Once there, his girlfriend encouraged him to file a police report.
The documentary featured audio clips from the sheriff interviewing Brandon about the rape. In the recordings, it becomes apparent that the sheriff is acting unprofessionally. He presses Brandon about his transgender status and makes a mockery of the events that passed. When watching the documentary, it was hard to bear even hearing him ask these rude questions to someone who has just suffered through such trauma.
It wasn’t long after that Nissen and Lotter heard about the charges. The sheriff, claiming there was not sufficient evidence, did not arrest the men. The two then continued their search for Brandon, breaking into one of his friend’s homes.
At the time, Brandon was staying with this friend, Lisa Lambert. She refused to tell the two men where Brandon was, but they soon found him in the house, along with another friend, Phillip DeVine, and Lisa’s child. The men shot and killed all of the adults and left the toddler behind.
When I finally saw the events come to a climax, it was unbelievable to me. These men killed three innocent people in front of a child because they had a problem with someone’s gender. I just… It is hard to understand where such rage and hatred comes from.
Brandon had done nothing to these men. Brandon’s own girlfriend was less upset by the news that he had been born a female than these men were!
As the documentary went on, the killers were given a chance to explain their sides of the story. That was perhaps the worst part of the film. John Lotter was shown repeatedly chuckling about the events, laughing about how he supposedly didn’t rape Brandon because he tried to but wasn’t turned on enough.
Both of those men pinned the majority of blame on one another. They admitted to having beaten and attempted to kill Brandon, but neither could agree on who was responsible for the actual murder. In order to avoid the death penalty, Nissen claimed Lotter was responsible and that he was merely an accessory. Instead, he has received life in prison. Lotter was given the death penalty.
Years after the trial, Nissen admitted he was the one who murdered Brandon, but because he has already been tried, the legal system could do nothing about it.
As I continued to watch the movie, I couldn’t help but think, “Not only are these men capable of murder and rape, but they can’t even remain loyal to each other.”
I had to write them off as the worst kind of people, incapable of showing love, compassion, or empathy. I had to tell myself that most people aren’t like this. They were just a fluke in the human species. I then wondered how many more people have to suffer because of the ignorance of others.
One of the most eye-opening parts of the movie was when a woman discussed how accepted many transgender persons feel while in cities like San Francisco. She said they get used to being treated nicely, normally, humanely. And then they go back to their home towns, and it’s just not like that. They return home, and they are treated as outcasts.
When I finished the documentary, I decided I had to do more research. I found out that the Brandon Teena murder is responsible for increased lobbying for hate crime laws. I also realized that if it weren’t for his murder, people would perhaps not feel as strongly about transgender issues. Maybe the reason society has become more accepting is because they have seen what happens when they aren’t. I hate the thought that Brandon had to die to get anyone to listen.
I know this is why it is important for accept others for who they are… especially when they are not harming anyone. Brandon had a rough life, and suffered through a lot because people told him he was wrong. He had a big secret that he never revealed because he didn’t want to be rejected. And when that secret was revealed, not only was he rejected socially, but he was beaten, raped, and murdered by two mentally disturbed individuals.
It made me think about how much of an overreaction those men had to the news of Brandon Teena’s secret. It made me wonder how I could support those close to me for their differences instead of shunning them. I can make a difference just by standing up for people.