One doesn't have to be Andrew Sullivan to be sickened by the cruel and brutal death of young Jesse Dirkhising ("Us and Them", April 2).  Every decent person agrees that the sexual exploitation and murder of children – including this 13-year-old boy – is reprehensible and can only be described as evil.  That is precisely why, contrary to Sullivan's assertion, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) condemned the murder in news accounts when it occurred.

We categorically reject, as does Sullivan, the notion that pedophilia is an inherent part of gay culture, values, or behavior.  Yet Sullivan suggests that, as a gay organization, the HRC should speak out more vehemently regarding the Dirkhising case.  He cannot have it both ways.  The abuse and exploitation of any child should be uniformly condemned, regardless of the sexual orientation of the perpetrator.  For example, in March in Washington state, a 15-year-old girl who was raped and murdered was laid to rest.  The alleged perpetrator, a 48-year-old male, goes on trial in May.  In Arizona, a man was just sentenced to 99 year for stabbing and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.  And, in Chicago, trial is underway for a 29-year-old man charged with raping and beating a nine-year-old girl and pouring roach killer down her throat.  Where are the opinion columns and calls for media attention in these cases?

Equally troubling is Sullivan's premise that somehow gay organizations like the HRC orchestrated or "hyped" the media coverage of the death of Matthew Shepard.  The fact is this: The death of Shepard, like the death of James Byrd Jr., spontaneously struck a deep and sorrowful chord in our nation.  The response was combustible and cannot be explained in simplistic media-relations terms.  There are times when a death or a cruel act lays open the heart of a people.  The death of Shepard, with the spontaneous vigils that erupted in communities all over our land, was one of those times.

Sullivan also fails to point out that the media coverage of Shepard's death was, in fact, an anomaly.  Shepard was not the first gay person who died in a cruel fashion, and he will not be the last.  Many other cases have not been covered.  For example, Sullivan would be hard-pressed to explain why the death of J.R. Warren, a young, gay, African American man who also died in and extreme and cruel manner, received very little coverage.  In our view, the media coverage in Shepard's case followed the outpouring of sorrow and anger after his death.  Note from Robin: – before his death, too, as he lingered in a hospital.)

We know Sullivan would like to see a world in which gay people are treated equally and fairly.  We also know that Sullivan would like to see a world in which no child is harmed the way Jesse Dirkhising was.  On these two points we agree wholeheartedly.
  Published in The New Republic, April, 2001