Lana M. Tisdel (born May 28, 1975)[2] is an American woman whose early life and involvement with the December 1993 murders of Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert, and Phillip DeVine at the hands of John Lotter and Tom Nissen is chronicled in the 1998 documentary The Brandon Teena Story and the 1999 film Boys Don't Cry (which left out DeVine).
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.
[9] Falls City is a small town, and all of these families were well-acquainted; Lana's best friend was Michelle Lotter, John's sister.
During a Christmas Eve party, Lotter and Nissen forced Teena to take off his clothes in order to show everyone, including Lana, his genitals.
[9] Lisa Lambert was a single mother from Pawnee City, Nebraska, who often let friends stay with her in exchange for their help and company, because she lived outside of town.
[10][11] Lana 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.
The Tisdel family appeared on the TV shows Maury and A Current Affair, to discuss Brandon Teena and the trial proceedings.
Lana Tisdel sued the creators of the film Boys Don't Cry for using her name and likeness without permission; the suit was settled out of court.
[15] There has been scrutiny that the lack of information about DeVine, 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.