Teena's murder, along with that of Matthew Shepard nearly five years later, led to increased lobbying for hate crime laws in the United States.

[6][7] His father died in a car accident in Lancaster County eight months before he was born, and he was raised by his mother.

JoAnn received disability checks[9] and worked as a clerk in a women's retail store in Lincoln to support the family.

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 Operation Desert Shield.

[8] In December 1990, Teena went to Holiday Skate Park with his friends, binding his chest to pass as male.

In the months nearing his high school graduation, Teena became unusually outgoing and was remembered by classmates as a "class clown."

He was released from the center three days later and began attending therapy sessions, sometimes accompanied by his mother or sister.

[8] In 1993, after some legal trouble, Teena moved to the Falls City region of Richardson County, Nebraska, where he presented as a man.

When Tisdel later questioned Teena about his gender, he told her he was a hermaphrodite pursuing a sex change operation, and they continued dating.

The men asked Lambert if there was anyone else in the house, and she replied that Phillip DeVine, who at the time was dating Tisdel's sister, was staying with her.

The two men then left, threw their weapons and gloves onto a frozen river, and returned to Falls City.

They were arrested that afternoon, after which Nissen told deputies that he had witnessed John Lotter shoot three people to death in Humboldt.

Police went to the river, where they retrieved the gloves and weapons, including the knife's sheath marked with Lotter's name, tying them to the crime.

[28] Because Teena had neither commenced hormone replacement therapy nor had gender confirmation surgery, he has sometimes mistakenly been identified as a lesbian by media reporters.

Following Lotter's sentencing in February 1996, Saturday Night Live aired a segment in which comedian Norm Macdonald joked: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.

[32] 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.

[33][34] 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.

[35] JoAnn Brandon sued Richardson County and Sheriff Laux for failing to prevent Teena's death and being an indirect cause.

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.

"[38] 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.

Tisdel also claimed that the film falsely portrayed that she continued the relationship with Teena after discovering that he was transgender.

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.

[42] The British duo Pet Shop Boys released a song titled "Girls Don't Cry" (a bonus track on UK issue of I'm with Stupid) about Teena in 2006.