Editing Brandon Teena (section)

==Life==
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]]}}</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 Teena 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}}</ref> and worked as a clerk in a women's retail store in Lincoln to support the family. As young children, Teena and Tammy 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}}</ref> JoAnn remarried in 1975, divorcing in 1980.<ref name="deceiver"/> Teena's family described him as being a [[tomboy]] since early childhood; Teena 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, Teena 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 Teena as being socially awkward. During his second year, Teena 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 [[Gulf War#Operation Desert Shield|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, Teena became unusually outgoing and was remembered by classmates as a "class clown." Teena 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, Teena 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 Teena's relationship with Heather was platonic or sexual.<ref name="deceiver"/>

In January 1992, Teena underwent a [[psychiatric evaluation]], which concluded that Teena 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 Teena's 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 Teena 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}}</ref> Teena's arrest was posted in the local paper under his 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|last=Minkowitz|first=Donna|title=How I Broke, and Botched, the Brandon Teena Story|publisher=[[Village Voice]]|date=June 20, 2018}}</ref>