Date: Sat, 15 Jan 1994 13:03:46 EST From: Workers World Service Subject: Transgender Bias Killings in Nebraska Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit TRANSGENDER BIAS KILLINGS IN NEBRASKA On New Year's Eve, the bodies of Brandon Teena, Lisa Lambert and Phillip DeVine were found riddled with bullets in a farmhouse south of Humboldt, Neb. Just two weeks earlier, the fact that Brandon Teena was born female was outed by authorities. Teena had been accepted as a man by local residents. Teena reportedly moved to the town of 1,000 in southeastern Nebraska three months ago and lived with Lambert. Phillip DeVine was visiting. John Lotter was charged with first-degree murder. In addition, he faces charges of kidnapping and sexually assaulting Brandon Teena on Christmas Day. He was ordered held without bond. Marv Nissen was also arraigned. Douglas Merz, the Richardson County attorney, declined to speculate on a motive but said he did not believe the forced outing of Brandon was behind the murders. The sister of one of the accused murderers disagrees. Michelle Lotter said her brother and Nissen were outraged after that fact that Brandon was a transgendered person was publicly exposed. (Newsday, Jan. 4) "This is the kind of terror and brutality that so many transgendered people, lesbians and gay men face in rural and urban areas," Leslie Feinberg told Workers World. Feinberg is the author of Stone Butch Blues, a popular novel that movingly reveals the overlapping oppression these two communities face. "It will take the strength of a united movement to push back the wave of violence and discrimination," Feinberg said. "And that's just what we're building." -30- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 West 17 St., New York, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@blythe.org.) +----------------------------------------------------------------+ + 212-675-9690 NY TRANSFER NEWS COLLECTIVE 212-675-9663 + + Since 1985: Information for the Rest of Us + + e-mail: nyt@blythe.org info: info@blythe.org +