The film was hard-hitting, visually innovative and marked a massive breakthrough in the representation of gender-variant bodies. While there were certainly debates about decisions that Peirce made within the film’s narrative arc (the omission of the murder of an African American friend, Philip DeVine, at the same time that Brandon was killed), BOYS DON’T CRY was received by audiences at the time as a magnificent film honouring the life of a gender queer youth and bringing a sense of the jeopardy of gender variant experiences to the screen. It was also seen as a sensitive depiction of life in small town USA. Kim Peirce spoke widely about the film in public venues and explained her relationship to the subject matter of gender variance, working-class life and gender-based violence.

The casting process for Brandon Teena on behalf of the feature film - Boys Don’t Cry: ”The actor selected for the starring role was Hilary Swank, a cisgender woman. She earned widespread praise for her portrayal and won the Academy Award for best actress in 2000. But at the outset, co-writer and director Kimberly Peirce (he/she) had intended to cast a trans man. Over the course of more than three years, Peirce conducted hundreds of interviews — both as research for writing the film and in an effort to cast the central role. At the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, you can see Hilary Swank’s audition to play Brandon along with auditions from two trans men who were also considered: Silas Howard and Harry Dodge.” Later Dodge and Howard would go on to make by Hook and by Crook (2001).