Editing Brandon Teena (section)

==Cultural and legal legacy==
Because Teena had neither commenced [[masculinizing hormone therapy|hormone replacement therapy]] nor had [[gender confirmation surgery]], he has sometimes mistakenly been identified as a lesbian by media reporters.<ref>John Gregory Dunne, [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1997/01/13/the-humboldt-murders The Humboldt Murders]. ''The New Yorker'', January 13, 1997.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glaad.org/publications/archive_detail.php?id=2192 |title=Brandon Teena Gets Dunne Wrong |access-date=December 7, 2006 |date= January 24, 1997 |publisher=[[Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation]] |quote=A New Yorker writer does not understand Brandon Teena's transgender identity, and describes him as a 'predatory' butch lesbian, referring to him as 'her' for most of the piece. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091305/http://www.glaad.org/publications/archive_detail.php?id=2192 |archive-date = September 29, 2007}}</ref> However, some reported Teena's plans to have sex reassignment surgery.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.justicejunction.com/judicial_injustice_brandon_teena_chapter2.htm |title=The Brandon Teena Story: Chapter 2: Brandon |access-date=December 7, 2006 |last=Griffy |first=Anna M. |date=July 4, 2004 |work=The Brandon Teena Story |publisher=Justice Junction |pages=2 |quote=Teena made her decision for good: she was going to live as a man and began to tell people she was having a sex change operation. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103052846/http://www.justicejunction.com/judicial_injustice_brandon_teena_chapter2.htm |archive-date=November 3, 2006 }}</ref>

Following Lotter's sentencing in February 1996, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' aired a segment in which comedian [[Norm Macdonald]] joked:{{blockquote|And finally, in Falls City, Nebraska, John Lotter has been sentenced to death for attempting to kill three people in what prosecutors called a plot to silence a cross-dressing female who had accused him of rape. Now, this might strike some viewers as harsh, but I believe everyone involved in this story should die.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Joynt |first1=Chase |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1280274171 |title=Boys Don't Cry |last2=Page |first2=Morgan M.|publisher=[[McGill–Queen's University Press]] |year=2022 |isbn=978-0-2280-1081-4 |location=Montreal |chapter=Chapter 3: Take It Like a Man |oclc=1280274171}}</ref>}} The comments were met with sharp criticism from trans and queer communities and organizations including [[The Transexual Menace]], who threatened to picket ''SNL'' in the absence of an apology.<ref>{{cite web|last= Wilchins |first=Riki Anne |title=SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: BRANDON TEENA & FRIENDS "...DESERVED TO DIE."|date=February 28, 1996 |url=http://www.qrd.org/qrd/media/television/1996/snl.slur.response-02.28.96|accessdate=May 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Send NBC a Message: Murder Is No Joke! Flyer|url=https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xk81jk42v |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220601005911/https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/xk81jk42v |archive-date=June 1, 2022 |access-date=May 23, 2022 |website=Digital Transgender Archive }}</ref> Upon reviewing the show, NBC agreed the line was inappropriate and should not have aired, and said it would ensure that similar incidents would not happen in the future.<ref>{{Cite news |date=Summer 1996 |title=MENACE AXES NBC PICKET FOR BRANDON TEENA 'JOKE' |pages=3–4|work=In Your Face|url=https://www.digitaltransgenderarchive.net/files/gx41mh908|access-date=May 23, 2022}}</ref>

JoAnn Brandon sued Richardson County and Sheriff Laux for failing to prevent Teena's death and being an indirect cause. She won the case, which was heard in September 1999 in Falls City, and was awarded $80,000. District court judge Orville Coady reduced the amount by 85 percent based on the responsibility of Nissen and Lotter and by one percent for Brandon's alleged [[contributory negligence]]. This led to a remaining judgment of responsibility against Richardson County and Laux of $17,360.97.<ref name="friedmanlaw.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.friedmanlaw.com/Articles/Teena-Brandon-An-American-Tragedy.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611174600/http://www.friedmanlaw.com/Articles/Teena-Brandon-An-American-Tragedy.shtml |archive-date=June 11, 2015 |title=Teena Brandon {{bracket|''sic''}}, An American Tragedy |last=Friedman |first=Herbert J. |access-date=November 15, 2015}}</ref> In 2001, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed the reductions of the earlier award reinstating the full $80,000 award for "mental suffering", plus $6,223.20 for funeral costs. In October 2001, the same judge awarded the plaintiff an additional $12,000: $5,000 for [[wrongful death]], and $7,000 for the intentional infliction of emotional distress.<ref name="friedmanlaw.com"/><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3219591.stm The victims of prejudice], B.B.C. News, December 26, 2003,</ref> Laux was also criticized after the murder for his attitude toward Teena – at one point, Laux referred to Brandon as "it."<ref>O'Hanlon, Kevin. [https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93519&page=1 "Sheriff Negligent in 'Boys Don't Cry' Death"]. [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]. April 20, 2001,</ref> After the case was over, Laux served as commissioner of Richardson County and later as part of his community's council before retiring as a school bus driver. He refused to speak about his actions in the case and called one reporter who contacted him for a story on the murder's twentieth anniversary "a pain in the ass."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/two-decades-after-brandon-teenas-murder-a-look-back-at-falls-city/282738/|title=Two Decades After Brandon Teena's Murder, a Look Back at Falls City|first=Stephanie|last=Fairyington|website=[[The Atlantic]]|date=December 31, 2013|access-date=January 25, 2018}}</ref>

In 1999, Teena became the subject of a biographical film entitled ''[[Boys Don't Cry (1999 film)|Boys Don't Cry]]'', directed by [[Kimberly Peirce]] and starring [[Hilary Swank]] as Teena and [[Chloë Sevigny]] as Tisdel. For their performances, Swank won, and Sevigny was nominated for an [[Academy Award]]. Tisdel sued the film's producers for unauthorized use of her name and likeness before the film's release. She claimed the film depicted her as "lazy, [[white trash]], and a skanky snake". Tisdel also claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after discovering that he was transgender. She eventually [[legal settlement|settled]] her lawsuit against the movie's distributor for an undisclosed sum.<ref name="suntimes-filmlawsuit"/><ref name="age-doubles"/>

JoAnn Brandon publicly objected to the media referring to her child as "he" and "Brandon." Following Hilary Swank's Oscar acceptance speech, JoAnn Brandon took offense at Swank for thanking "Brandon Teena" and referring to him as a man. "That set me off," said JoAnn Brandon. "She should not stand up there and thank my child. I get tired of people taking credit for what they don't know."<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/mar/29/oscars2000.oscars "Nebraska and India slam Oscar injustices"]. ''[[The Guardian]]''. March 29, 2000,</ref> However, in 2013, JoAnn told a reporter that she accepted Teena being referred to as transgender in the media. Although she was unhappy with how ''Boys Don't Cry'' portrayed the situation, she said about the film, "It gave them [gay and transgender advocates] a platform to voice their opinions, and I'm glad. There were a lot of people who didn't understand what it was [Teena] was going through. We've come a long way." When asked how the murder affects her life today, JoAnn replied, "I wonder how my life would be different if she was still with me. She would be such a joy to have around. She was always such a happy kid. I imagine her being a happy adult. And if being happy meant [Teena] living as a man, I would be fine with that."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bergin|first1=Nicholas|title=Brandon Teena's mom: 'We've come a long way'|url=http://www.journalstar.com/news/local/brandon-teena-s-mom-we-ve-come-a-long-way/article_aba1f9ec-3459-5654-98a7-d31b66cd9f1c.html|access-date=February 8, 2017|agency=Lincoln Journal Star|date=December 29, 2013}}</ref>

''Brandon'', an interactive web artwork created in 1998 by [[Shu Lea Cheang]], was named for Brandon Teena. The artwork was commissioned by the [[Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum]]. Much of the site's content relates to Brandon's story.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/15337|title=Brandon|date=January 1, 1998|work=Guggenheim|access-date=March 3, 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[United Kingdom|British]] duo [[Pet Shop Boys]] released a song titled "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on UK issue of ''[[I'm with Stupid (Pet Shop Boys song)|I'm with Stupid]]'') about Teena in 2006. [[Vancouver]]-based pop-punk band [[Hotel Mira]] released the song "Brandon", off their debut 2014 album ''Circulation'', in memory of Brandon Teena.

In 2018, [[Donna Minkowitz]], the journalist whose reporting on Teena's murder first brought the story to a wider audience, wrote a piece for the ''[[Village Voice]]'' in which she expressed her regret for not understanding transgender people when she wrote her original report.<ref name=TeenaVoice/>