Lana Tisdel

Lana Tisdel (born March 1, 1975)^[2] is an American woman whose early life and involvement with the 1993 murder of Brandon Teena was chronicled in the 1998 documentary The Brandon Teena Story and the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry. She was portrayed in the film by Chloë Sevigny, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Tisdel.

The director of the film, Kimberly Pierce, worked on the script for many years and interviewed Lana and her mother for details on their life. Pierce also drew information from other sources including All She Wanted by Aphrodite Jones (1996), a biography of Brandon Teena and the lives of those involved with the murders; and a 1994 Village Voice piece written by Donna Minkowitz which was responsible for the story becoming a media sensation in the early 1990s.^[3][4]

Background

Photo of Brandon Teena

In the fall of 1993, Tisdel, aged 19, met Brandon Teena, 20, through their mutual friends. Teena was new to the close-knit area, from Lincoln, Nebraska, and the local crowd was curious about him. Teena and Tisdel began seeing each other, because Tisdel found Teena attractive, believing he was cisgender male. He was in fact assigned female at birth, but identified as male. Tisdel has made it clear that her relationship with Brandon Teena was brief and did not include sex; only lasting about two months from their first meeting until the murder. However, the two months of their relationship is described as very intense. Her mother Linda, testified that Tisdel would be with Brandon all day, had trouble sleeping, and their relationship was all she cared about during that time.^[5]

On December 19, 1993, Brandon Teena was arrested for forging checks, and put in jail for several days. Tisdel found out he was assigned as a female after his birth name (Teena Renae Brandon) was printed in the local newspaper in the arrests section. Tisdel paid to get him out of jail, and he told her that he was undergoing sex reassignment surgery. Tisdel has disputed claims that after the truth was revealed to her, they continued a romantic relationship, but instead she told Brandon that they could still be friends. Tisdel defended Teena often, at one point lying to authorities and telling them she had seen him naked and saw his penis, in hopes they would leave him alone.

Two people that they were friends with during this time were John Lotter and Tom Nissen. Both young men had criminal records, and Teena had been staying with Nissen. Falls City, Nebraska, being a small town, meant that all of these families were well acquainted, and Lana's best friend was Michelle Lotter, John's sister. Initially friendly, Lotter and Nissen soon began to harass Teena and Tisdel and scrutinize their relationship. During a Christmas Eve party, Lotter and Nissen forced Teena to take off his clothes, to show everyone, including Lana, that he was female-bodied.

The two then kidnapped Teena to a rural area and raped and beat him. Afterwards, Teena came to Tisdel's house, and Tisdel and her mother convinced him to speak to the police, and go to the hospital. Lotter and Nissen had told Teena that if they told anyone what they did, they would kill him.

Murders

A few days later, on New Year's Eve 1993, Lotter and Nissen came to the Tisdel residence drunk and looking for Teena, and threatened the Tisdel sisters. They next drove to the house of Lisa Lambert, where Teena had been living. Also in the house was Phillip Devine, a friend of theirs who was dating Tisdel's sister Leslie. Lisa Lambert was a single mother from Pawnee City, Nebraska who often let friends stay with her for extra help, and company because she lived outside of town. Lotter and Nissen then murdered Teena, Lambert, and Devine, with fatal gunshot wounds. Lambert's son Tanner was in the house at the time, and was unharmed. Tisdel was not present at the time of the murder, as it took place inside Lambert's home in Humboldt, Nebraska, a short 30 minute drive away from Falls City, where Tisdel lived with her mother and sister. The bodies were discovered the next day by Lambert's mother, Anna Mae.^[6][7]

Aftermath

Tisdel, her sister Leslie, and mother Linda were all involved in the criminal trial and later lawsuits that followed the murder and later, movie development. Lana also has other siblings, including a brother, Terry Torrance.^[8] The Tisdel family appeared on Maury and A Current Affair, to discuss Brandon Teena and the trial proceedings. The Tisdel family did not get along well with Brandon Teena's mother, Jo Ann Brandon, and his sister, Tammy, who accused Tisdel of being responsible for the murders.

Tisdel sued the creators of Boys Don't Cry for using her name and likeness without permission, and the suit was settled out of court. Leslie Tisdel was vocal about the film's script changes, and upset that her boyfriend who was murdered, Phillip Devine, was not included in the film, nor was she, and instead the film focused on Brandon Teena. There has been scrutiny that the lack of information on Phillip Devine (1974-1993), who was from Iowa, is because he was African American, and Leslie stated she believed he has been left out of the story because of racism. When Boys Don't Cry was released, she petitioned Nebraska movie theatre owners to not show the film. Lisa Lambert's (1969-1993) name was changed to Candace in the movie. Tisdel's mother Linda, who died in 2003, at age 54, was portrayed in the film by Jeannetta Arnette.^[9]

Tanner Lambert graduated from Humboldt High School in 2011, and was raised by his aunt. John Lotter and Tom Nissen are currently in prison, with both serving life sentences.^[10]

Lana graduated from Falls City High School in 1992.^[11] She married Josh Bachman in 2001 and currently lives in Centralia, Kansas with their children. Centralia is an hour drive south of Falls City.^[12]

On July 4, 2012, Tisdel was involved in a car accident when she veered off the road and hit a piece of farming equipment.^[13]

References

External links

• Lana Tisdel at the Internet Movie Database