This paper is an examination of some of the issues raised by Kimberly Peirce's 1999 movie, Boys Don't Cry, and possible political organizing strategies that might be effective in dealing with them. This devastating film, based on a true story, suggests a number of common social problems that require social, legal, and political support to confront.
Teena Ray Brandon was a 21-year-old from Lincoln, Nebraska, who struggled throughout her brief life with a self-identified sexual identity crisis. Born female, she never felt comfortable as a girl, and she began dressing as and passing for a man. Using the name of Brandon Teena, she befriended a group of bored, lower-class young people with too much time on their hands. She eventually fell in love with one of the group, Lana, a lost, hard-drinking teenager who found the drifter's sensitivity appealing and was touched by Brandon's attentions. For quite awhile, Brandon managed to hide her true gender from Lana as well as from the others.
Brandon was not an innocent. To support herself and maintain her charade, she resorted to petty thievery, forgery, and stealing cars, and she used a false drivers license to escape detection. Ultimately, her lies were her undoing. A routine police check uncovered her true identity and the outstanding warrants against her. When she was thrown in jail, Lana's friends began to figure out the truth and, once she was released, attacked her and forced her to admit her true gender.
Two men in the group, enraged that Brandon had tricked them into believing she was male, brutally raped her and then threatened her if she told police what had happened. Although she tried to keep silent, police started an investigation. To silence her, the men brutally murdered Brandon and a friend who was helping her. The two were caught and sentenced for the murders, sentences they continue to serve to this day.
The award-winning film based on Brandon's short li...