Brandon Teena (December 12, 1972 - December 31, 1993 in Lincoln, Nebraska) was a trans man who was raped and murdered. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.
Teena was born in Lincoln, Nebraska as Teena Renae Brandon. Teena's family described him as a tomboy. While Teena was still living as a girl, he was sexually assaulted by a ma...
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Brandon Teena (December 12, 1972 - December 31, 1993 in Lincoln, Nebraska) was a trans man who was raped and murdered. His life and death were the subject of the Academy Award-winning 1999 film Boys Don't Cry, which was based on the documentary film The Brandon Teena Story.
Teena was born in Lincoln, Nebraska as Teena Renae Brandon. Teena's family described him as a tomboy. While Teena was still living as a girl, he was sexually assaulted by a male relative. According to his mother, JoAnn Brandon, they sought counseling together in 1991. Teena began identifying as male in high school and dated several girls. His mother rejected his male identity and continued referring to him as her "daughter." Later his headstone was inscribed with his birthname and the epitaph "daughter, sister, & friend". Teena claimed to be intersex several times, but this was later proven to be false.
In 1993, after some legal trouble, Teena moved to the Falls City region of Richardson County, Nebraska, where he...
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