In yet another attempt to exploit and politicize the death of an LGBT teenager, GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis recently claimed on Twitter/X that the reported murder of 17-year-old River Nevaeh Goddard was directly connected to anti-LGBT “rhetoric” and Republican legislation.
She insisted, “Too often, young people, and LGBTQ youth in particular, are failed by the adults and systems entrusted to protect them, and do not feel they have anywhere to turn in times of crisis. Our leaders and our communities must do better.”
She went on to demand, “Politicians must stop dangerous anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and legislation that fans the flames of hate and violence.”
The thing is, Goddard wasn’t killed due to bullying or alleged anti-LGBT legislation in schools or even in a hate crime. She was allegedly murdered by her 20-year-old boyfriend who reportedly stabbed her repeatedly with a sword over accusations she was cheating on him.
Shane Curry, 20, of Stow, Massachusetts, has been charged with assault and battery on a family or household member. On April 5, 2024, police arrived at the couple’s home to do a well-being check. Curry’s mother called the police after not being able to get ahold of her son for two days. Curry attempted to block the police from entering for two hours before they finally entered and found the victim dead inside their room.
The couple reportedly had an argument in which Curry accused her of cheating on him and confronted her about her drug addiction. He told police he stabbed her several times with a sword. He told police, “The bruises aren’t working … hitting her that’s not working, so ok, I have to knife her, so I do.”
Curry has a history of domestic abuse, including assaulting his mother in 2023. Goddard’s grandfather, Michael Simmons, stated he had previously spoken with Curry and that the boyfriend promised to “take care of her.” Goddard was born in prison and raised by her grandfather but was removed due to an abusive environment. She was placed in foster care with a family until she ran away when the state requested she receive behavioral treatment. Her foster family believed she was missing for the last two years.
GLAAD reported she identified as nonbinary and pansexual and used “they/them,” pronouns. She also went by River and her birth name Nevaeh. Despite this being an obvious case of domestic abuse involving drug addiction, GLAAD urged “media reporting on Goddard’s life and death to respect Goddard’s identity and explore how the growing climate of anti-LGBTQ animus, legislation, and attacks factors into Goddard not receiving adequate support in the years leading up to their death.”
They plan to turn her death into another propaganda tool, purely for politics. As was true with the recent viral death of Dagny (Nex) Benedict, there is no evidence whatsoever that alleged anti-LGBT legislation or rhetoric or even bullying had anything to do with the case. Advocate, an LGBT site, included in the story, “Goddard’s death comes just months after the death of Indigenous transgender high school student Nex Benedict, who died by suicide after being physically assaulted by their peers in a bathroom.”
Hellbound and Down 