DISCLAIMER : If you're under the age of 13 or if you're sensetive to Transphobia, Violence, Sexual Assault, Murder, and Scary Stuff in general, I highly advise you don't read this for your own safety. Hello everyone. It's Noel again here with The Story Of Brandon Teena. In my opinion, this is the 2nd most fascinating Crime Story in my opinion right behind The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena. And that's because of how significant this Story is. It is agreed by many to be one of, if not the WORST Transphobic Story of all time and like The Story Of Jennifer Ertman And Elizabeth Pena, it changed the World. It changed how we viewed the LGBTQIA+ Community and this Story helped us become more accepting to them and inspired many Documentaries and even a Movie about it. That's how important it is. Credit to The Misery Machine YouTube Channel for the information. I highly advise you go Subscribe to them. It's one of the best Crime Channels on YouTube. Make sure you have some tissues with you because not only is this Story really Scary, but it's also incredibly Sad. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we take a look at the 2nd most fascinating Crime Story in my opinion. The Story Of Brandon Teena. Transphobia At It's Worst.

Brandon Teena was an American Transgender man who lived a very torturous life of Gender Dysphoria and Discrimination. Growing up in the 1970's and 1980's when The LGBT Community wasn't as popular as it is today, he faced a lot of social issues and a rough childhood. But what makes him arguably the worst LGBT discrimination victim are the terrible horrors he faced during his twenties and what happened to him would become a huge Story that would forever change society and how we view LGBT people. This is The Story Of Brandon Teena.

Brandon Teena was born as a female with the name "Teena Rae Brandon'' on December 12th 1972 in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was born to a single mother named JoAnne Brandon who was only 14 years old when Brandon was born.

Sadly, his life started plummeting down even before he was born. His father, 19 year old Patrick Brandon died in a drunk driving Car accident from driving off a bridge in Lancaster 8 months before he was born on April 7th 1972. Unfortunately, this would only be the beginning of Brandon's endless life of torture...

Brandon's older sister Tammy who was born when JoAnne was only 12, lived with their maternal Grandmother until 1976 when she was 6 years old and Brandon was 3 years old when JoAnne reclaimed Brandon and Tammy. The family lived in a pine acre mobile home park in North East, Lincoln Nebraska. Despite barely entering High School and receiving disability checks, JoAnne worked as a clerk at a women's retail store to support Brandon and Tammy. In 1975, JoAnne remarried another man at the age of 17, but the couple got a divorce in 1980 at the age of 22.

Unfortunately, Brandon did not have a perfect life with his family. He and his sister Tammy were sexually abused by their Uncle throughout their early years which he finally sought counseling for in 1991 at the age of 18. Tragically, his teenage years would be just as difficult and troubling...

Brandon started identifying himself as a Transgender Male during his teenage years and he used methods to make himself look like a male such as talking in a deep voice, binding his breasts, and putting socks in his underwear crotch region. But because he grew up in the 1980's when LGBT people weren't so common and they didn't have rights, it was far more difficult than it is today. He and his sister Tammy attended Catholic primary and secondary schools. His High School was Pius The 10th. He was heavily discriminated against, faced a lot of gender dysphoria, and called the f slur a lot of the time. Everyone in the school saw him as a female. During one of his years, he became an Atheist due to protesting one of his school's priests displaying negative opinions on how Christians viewed abstinence and LGBT people. He would always dress up in Male clothes at school, but because everyone saw him as a female, he always got in trouble for violating the school's rules to dress in appropriate clothing. During his senior year of high school, shortly after his 18th Birthday, an officer from The U.S. Military came to his school to advertise Operation Desert Shield and offer volunteer opportunities to the school's students. Brandon was interested in joining the military so enlisted, but he wasn't allowed in the service and was completely rejected since he failed the Military's written entrance exam by listing his sex as Male. He was also remembered as being socially awkward.

Worst of all however, his own mother didn't even understand her son's gender dysphoria and rejected his request to view him as her son and always called him her "daughter". Everyone saw Brandon as a female and nothing like the way he wanted people to see him.

Despite how hard Brandon's teenage years were, he was able to find some enjoyment in them. He dated sever female students and was able to find friends who accepted him being a Transgender Male and he enjoyed hanging out with them. He also tried to be more optimistic and used humor throughout his senior year and he was remembered as being "The Class Clown".

Even though he had a small amount of things going for him, Brandon's life at high school was still too much for him to handle and he started skipping school which led to him failing his grades. As a result, he was expelled from school three days before his Graduation in June of 1991.

Despite being expelled from high school, Brandon was relieved his high school troubles were now over. In the summer of 1991, he started his first major relationship when he dated a girl named Heather. He also became employed and worked as a Gas Station Attendant and purchased a Trailer Home for him and Heather. Things seemed to be going a lot better for Brandon after his tormenting high school years but unfortunately, he wasn't completely free from his life's struggles.

Brandon's Mother JoAnn didn't support his relationship with Heather and was suspicious of it being a platonic relationship so she told her daughter Tammy to start spying on the couple to see if their relationship was geniuine.

In January of 1992 at the age of 19, Brandon underwent a psychiatric evaluation that concluded he was suffering from gender dysphoria and was taken to The Lancaster County Crisis Center to see if he also suffered suicidal depression which he thankfully didn't. He was released from The Center after spending 3 days in it and began attending therapy sessions as well where he would sometimes be accompanied by his mother or sister. During one of the sessions, he talked about being sexually abused and sexually assaulted by his uncle. Now it seemed like more people were wanting to help Brandon but he still wasn't getting the respect he needed since his mother JoAnn continued to view him as a female and nothing else. But even with his troubled relationship with his mother, Brandon's life seemed like it was starting to slowly get better.

In November of 1993 at the age of 20, Brandon moved to The Falls City Region in Richardson County, Nebraska and became friends with several of the city's people. There, he started dating his 3rd and last girlfriend, 18 year old Lana Tisdel. He was also great friends with her best friend, a 24 year old single Mother named Lisa Marie Lambert.

He also befriended two young men who were previously prison inmates. 22 year old John Lawrence Lotter and 22 year old Marvin Thomas Nissen who preferred going by his middle name. Both men had troubled lives as Lotter possessed a low IQ and Nissen had an obsession with self harm. However, Brandon saw them as good friends and hung out with them as well as his other friends too.

For his entire time in The Falls City Region of Richardson County Nebraska, Brandon kept the fact he was Transgender a secret to avoid discrimination and hatred.

Everything in Brandon's life seemed to be getting better and better and his troubled childhood and teenage years were in the past. He avoided discrimination despite him being a Transgender male, more people were trying to help him as much as they could, he had a good job, and he moved into a new city where he had a lot of friends. Everything seemed to be going great for Brandon Teena but tragically, all of the good times he was having in his life would be completely shattered by an endless chain of events in December of 1993. What would happen to him that month would be completely horrifying, groundbreaking, and would completely change how society viewed LGBT people forever...

On December 19th 1993, one week after Brandon's 21st Birthday, he was arrested for forging checks and transported to the female section of a local jail. Thankfully it wasn't a big deal because Lana used money from her father to pay for his bail. Her father originally gave her money for a haircut appointment, but Lana used it for writing Brandon's bail at a local convenience store instead.

However, because Brandon was being held at the female section of the jail, Lana learned that he was a Transgender Male. Not only that, but his arrest was published in his city's newspapers and he was referred to by his dead name "Teena Brandon" which revealed to everybody he knew that he was a Transgender Male and he could no longer keep it a secret to avoid discrimination and hatred. Thankfully though, all of Brandon's friends were alright with him being a Transgender Male and accepted him. Although Lana broke up with Brandon when she found out he was a Transgender male. But everybody still accepted Brandon for who he was and the fact he was a Transgender male didn't matter in the slightest.

Everyone was fine with Brandon being who he was except for two people... Those two people were John Lotter and Tom Nissen. They hated the fact that Brandon was a Transgender Male because they believed he was pretending to be something he wasn't and they wanted him to learn that he could only be a Female and nothing else. At first, they sounded like any typical Transphobic person, but little did anyone know that they had a jaw dropping plan that would leave everyone in a complete state of shock...

On December 24th 1993, Brandon was at a Christmas Eve Party with all of his friends and he was having fun with them. John Lotter and Tom Nissen then showed up to the Party and Brandon was expecting to have a fun time with them as well, but sadly, he couldn't have been more wrong as he couldn't have possibly imagined what they would do with him that night...

Instead of Partying with him and the rest of his friends, Lotter and Nissen were deeply angry about Brandon Teena being a Transgender Male and grabbed him and dragged him to their Car where they forced him to remove his clothes so they could show him that he could only be a female and nothing else. They wanted to prove it to Lana as well, but Lana didn't want anything to do with whatever Nissen and Lotter were doing so she said nothing to them nor did she follow them.

Lotter and Nissen forced Brandon into their Car and drove to a nearby meat packing plant where they sexually assaulted him with condoms...

After being torturously assaulted by two people he trusted, Lotter and Nissen demanded Brandon not to report the assault to the police because if he did, Lotter and Nissen said to him they would "Silence him permanently". They even asked Brandon if they were still friends to which Brandon reluctantly replied "Yeah"...

The two then drove to Nissen's house where they told him to take a shower. Nissen's bathroom had a window, and when Brandon saw the window, he immediately climbed out of it and ran to Lana's house. The horrified 21 year old told everything to Lana and Lana urged him to report what happened to the Police despite Lotter and Nissen threatening him with death if he did.

The next day on Christmas Day, December 25th 1993, Brandon went to the local Police station to report the assault. He reported his assault in an interrogation to a 45 year old Sheriff named Charles Laux. Sheriff Laux was a Police Officer who also previously served in The United States Army National Guard and was a member of The American Legion.

Brandon was happy he was safe at a Police Station where people could help him and he didn't have to worry about Lotter and Nissen any longer. However, Sheriff Laux didn't do anything at all to help Brandon. During the entire time Brandon was at the Police Station, Sheriff Laux seemed interested and suspicious in Brandon due to him being a Transgender Male and the fact he was reporting an assault. Sheriff Laux asked Brandon a lot of specific and unnecessary questions that made him feel uncomfortable to the point where he was crying during the interrogation and he stopped answering Sheriff Laux's questions. The entire interrogation was recorded, but the last part of the recording was erased for unknown reasons.

Despite Sheriff Laux giving Brandon an even harder time after his assault, he demanded Lotter and Nissen to come to the Police Station the next day for questioning.

On Boxing Day, December 26th 1993, John Lotter and Tom Nissen went to the local Police Station where Sheriff Laux questioned them for Brandon's sexual assault allegations. Despite Brandon claiming that Lotter assaulted him along with Nissen, Lotter and Nissen denied having any involvement in the assault.

Unfortunately, despite Brandon claiming that both Lotter and Nissen sexually assaulted him and Nissen admitted to it as well, because Sheriff Laux didn't trust Brandon due to his identity and his behavior with him the previous day and his lack of evidence about the assault, Sheriff Laux RELEASED Lotter and Nissen and no arrests or charges were made against them.

Tragically, this horrible mistake would completely SEAL Brandon's fate because Lotter and Nissen threatened Brandon with death to not report his assault to the Police. This horrible mistake would completely change society and leave a devastating impact on the entire world...

On this day, 29 years ago, at 1:00 AM on New Year's Eve, December 31st 1993, 19 days after Brandon's 21st Birthday, Brandon was spending New Year's at his house with Lisa Lambert, her son, and their friend who was dating Lana Tisdel's sister, 22 year old Phillip Elliott DeVine. Brandon wanted to Celebrate and have a fun Party with his friends, but he was still traumatized by what happened the previous week and he was worried that Lotter and Nissen would kill him since he reported them to the Police. He tried to put his worries aside and have fun with his friends but tragically, the very worst happened that morning... Brandon was right...

At 1:00 AM, John Lotter and Tom Nissen drove to Lisa's house and broke in while wielding a gun. The most scared he ever was in his life, Brandon immediately hid under Lisa's bed. The infuriated duo found Lisa lying on the bed and ordered her to tell them where in the house Brandon was. Lisa was scared out of her life that Lotter and Nissen came to her house with a gun and refused to tell them anything about Brandon. But they started searching frantically for Brandon and Nissen found him hiding under the bed.

After finding the man who rightfully broke their trust, they ordered Lisa to tell them if there was anyone else in the house, to which Lisa told them Phillip DeVine was also at their house.

After giving them all the information they needed, John Lotter and Tom Nissen shot and killed all three of them right in front of Lisa's young child...

After shooting the horrified helpless trio, Nissen noticed Brandon was twitching and was worried he was not dead from the gunshot, so he asked Lotter for a knife which Lotter got from the kitchen and gave to Nissen who then stabbed Brandon in the chest to make sure he was dead... After their horrific killing spree, Lotter and Nissen left the house...

After Lotter and Nissen left, Lisa Lambert's mother started calling her and became worried she was not answering her phone calls and drove to her house.

Lisa's mother was the most heartbroken and horrified she ever was in her whole life when she saw that her daughter, Brandon, and Phillip were all shot dead and her granddaughter was still alive and immediately took her granddaughter out of the house and called the Police. The Police arrived shortly after and quickly investigated the terrifying scene. One of the Police Officers who arrived to investigate the murder scene was Sheriff Charles Laux who ignored Brandon's pleas for help and released Lotter and Nissen because of it.

Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert, and Phillip DeVine were all dead and no longer had the opportunity to live...

After the horrific Murders, John Lotter and Tom Nissen were quickly arrested and charged with First Degree Murder. The trial for the two young men was very eventful. Nissen testified against Lotter, accusing him of committing the murders and admitted to being an accessory in the assault and murder in exchange for a reduced sentence. As a result, Tom Nissen was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without The Possibility Of Parole and he was spared from the death penalty in exchange for his cooperation. Despite Nissen's claims, Lotter denied his accusations and because of that, Nissen's testimony was discredited although his sentence would still remain the same.

Just like Tom Nissen, John Lotter was found guilty. But unlike his friend, he was given the death penalty.

13 years after the crimes in September of 2007, Tom Nissen recanted his testimony against John Lotter and claimed he was the only one who shot Brandon, Lisa, and Phillip and Lotter did not commit the murders.

Everyone was deeply saddened by the loss of the three people and felt like they all failed them. Brandon's Mother JoAnn sued the city of Richardson County and Sheriff Charles Laux for failing to prevent Brandon's death and help him. She was rewarded $80,000 5 years after the crimes in September of 1999.

Unfortunately, The District Court's Judge, Orville Coady reduced the amount of money JoAnn received by 86%. Judge Cody reduced 85 percent of the amount of money as he believed Brandon contributed to his own death since he believed Lotter and Nissen were the only ones responsible for Brandon's death and the authorities had no responsibility at all. He reduced the remaining 1% of money due to Brandon's alleged contributory negligence. Because of this, JoAnn was only rewarded $17,360.97 from the lawsuit.

Thankfully though in 2001, The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed Judge Coady's reduction and JoAnn was awarded the original $80,000 for mental suffering she was promised along with an additional $6,223.20 for funeral costs. Even better in October 2001, Judge Coady deeply apologized for reducing JoAnn's reward and gave her $5,000 for wrongful death and $7,000 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress which equaled $12,000.

After the assault and murders, Sheriff Charles Laux was heavily criticized for the rest of his life due to his attitude towards Brandon when he was in desperate need of help and failing to help him in any way. After the crimes, his deputy quit and everyone in his force volunteered to testify against him in a civil lawsuit, but the lawsuit never happened. Laux retired from working as a Sheriff and served as The Commissioner Of Richardson County and later served for his community's council. Laux then retired from working at his community's council and worked as a School Bus Driver for the rest of his life.

During the last 27 years of his life, he refused to speak about his actions in Brandon Teena's case and swore at a True Crime reporter who contacted him when the reporter was working on a Story for the crime's 20th anniversary in 2013.

On March 30th 2021, Charles Laux, the man who refused to help Brandon Teena when he needed it the most, passed away at the age of 73. He never apologized or ever showed remorse for refusing to help Brandon which resulted in his tragic death.

The Story Of Brandon Teena became so big and significant, that an entire Movie was made about him 6 years after his murder in 1999 called "Boys Don't Cry". The film was directed by Kimberly Peirce and starred Hilary Swank who acted as Brandon and Chloe Sevigny as Lisa. Swank became so dedicated and passionate about the film she acted like a transgender male in real life during the entire time the film was in production. The film was a great success and Swank and Sevigny were nominated for the academy awards.

Although many people reacted positively towards the film, Lana Tisdel heavily criticized the film because she believed the film portrayed her as "lazy white trash and a skanky snake". Tisdel also didn't appreciate the fact the film portrayed her and Brandon continuing their romantic relationship after she found out he was Transgender, which was inaccurate to real life where Lana broke up with Brandon when she found out he was a Transgender male.

Many people also criticize the film for portraying Brandon Teena as wanting to be a Transgender Male just for FUN and not because he suffered from gender dysphoria. Kimberly Peirce also referred to Brandon as a woman pretending to be a man in several interviews with her. To make matters worse, she used Brandon's dead name at the end of the movie.

However, what many people agree is the biggest problem with the film was that Phillip DeVine was not in it which everyone found racist and disrespectful.

Boys Don't Cry is one of the most divisive films in History. While many people think it's a great Story that heavily details Brandon Teena's tragic life, a good majority of people think it's an insult due to how it portrays Brandon and Lana and the absence of Phillip DeVine.

What was even more odd however was that Brandon's mother JoAnn criticized the film and Swank herself for referring to Brandon as a male but as the years went by, she started to accept her son for who he was and started respecting him more although she still didn't appreciate how the film portrayed her son. Although she did praise the movie in an interview where she said : "It was a good way for Gay and Transgender people to voice their opinions and I'm glad of that. There are a lot of people who didn't understand what Brandon was going through. We've come a long way.".

Nowadays when JoAnn is asked how her son's murder affects her life, she says : "I wonder about how my life would be different if Brandon was still here for me. Brandon would be such a joy to have around. Brandon was always such a happy kid. I imagine Brandon being a happy adult. And if being happy meant Brandon living as a man, I would be fine with that."

After his tragic murder, Brandon was buried at The Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska. Unfortunately, his gravestone did not label him properly as the gravestone had his dead name written on it and describes him as a "daughter, sister, and friend" and there haven't been any attempts to change his gravestone into one that describes him properly.

The Story Of Brandon Teena is already devastating enough to be one of the biggest and worst crime Stories in History, but what makes the Story even more impactful was how significant it was. Ever since this case happened 29 years ago, the entire World has tried as hard as they could to change and improve their views on LGBT people and give them as much respect as possible that Brandon deserved.

Over the last 29 years, John Lotter has tried several times to overturn his death sentence, including himself and prosecutors claiming his IQ is too low for him to be executed, but all of his attempts to overturn his death sentence have been fruitless.

To this day, John Lotter is still awaiting his execution and Tom Nissen is still serving his life sentence with no possibility of ever being released from Prison. The sexual assault-murder-duo are out of the free world forever.

To this day, 29 years later, The Story Of Brandon Teena remains as one of the saddest and most devastating Crime Stories of all time and it will always be remembered for how it changed the whole world and we will never forget Brandon Teena. A man who wanted nothing more than a good life and to be himself, but no one bothered to help him...

The end...