“I’m not as strong as I thought.
I can’t fight.
I don’t think I can make it alone.”
– an excerpt from Brandon’s journal.
Brandon, a 21-year-old trans man from Nebraska, was every woman’s dream. He knew exactly what to say and how to please the women he met and often showered them with flowers and gifts. The only caveat was that none of them knew his real identity.
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Brandon was born as Teena but never felt quite like a girl to begin with. At 18, he cut his hair, changed his name, and began introducing himself as a man. Unfortunately, two ignorant criminals, Tom Nissen and John Lotter, decided it was their call to take the life of a kid who had his whole life ahead of him. Simply because he was different.
Brandon’s story inspired the film Boys Don’t Cry. But the filmmakers changed a lot of it. Here’s what really happened.