They'll Roll Back Gay Marriage

Despite the video evidence, conservative media fell in line immediately. [Renee Nicole] Good was “100 percent to blame” for her own death, according to Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire. Megyn Kelly said it “was her own doing.” The verdict felt unanimous: She deserved it.

But the reasons used to justify her death have gone far beyond what she did or didn’t do with her car. Much of it has centered around Good’s identity as a queer woman.

Walsh called Good a “lesbian agitator.” Ian Miles Cheong, a right-wing commentator with millions of followers, called her a “rug munching leftist.” On Fox News, Jesse Watters noted that Good “leaves behind a lesbian partner” and highlighted that she had “pronouns in her bio,” seemingly in reference to her Instagram profile.

[…]

A couple days after Good was killed, footage that appears to be from Ross' cell phone leaked to conservative Minnesota outlet Alpha News. It shows the moments before the shooting. Good is behind the wheel and calmly tells the person filming, “I’m not mad at you.” Her partner, Becca, is outside the car, confronting Ross. Becca appears to be defiant and unafraid, telling the person behind the camera, “Go get yourself some lunch, big boy.” As Good tries to drive away, Ross fires several shots. Then, just before Good’s car crashes, a voice is heard saying: “Fucking bitch.”

Whoever leaked that video could have edited the slur out. They didn't. And judging by reactions from right-wing influencers, they didn't need to.

“There's a real sense of disgust with women in the way that conservative media is talking about these kinds of protests,” says Courtney Hagle, research director at Media Matters for America, who has tracked the right-wing response to Good's death. “They're clearly very angry at the presence of women, and especially white women, liberal women.” The video, as Hagle puts it, “confirmed for them that this is not a human being that they should care about.”

Some of the commentary, including references to Becca as Good's “so-called wife” also felt like an insidious way to delegitimize the Goods’ relationship.

[…] ICE agents in Minnesota have been heard saying that protesters need to “learn” from what happened to her, according to the Intercept. On January 11, protester Patty O'Keefe told progressive independent outlet Status Coup News a federal agent detained her and said, “You guys need to stop obstructing us. That’s why that lesbian bitch is dead.” Another protester named Skye said they were detained and asked, “Have you not learned? This is why we killed that lesbian bitch.” […]