A TEST MAILING in March of a Gay Men’s Health Crisis fundraising letter using the Matthew Shepard tragedy as a hook to ask people to donate to the organization has angered many in the lesbian and gay fundraising community.

Richard Haymes, an irate recipient of the piece, posted his concerns about how such victims as Shepard are used and portrayed to members of a gay and lesbian e-mail list: “This is exploitation of the worst kind-co-opting a tragedy that isn’t even tangential to their issues and trying to make a buck!”

“Matthew’s murder has become, sadly, a mini-industry,” adds Sean Strub, chairman and creative director of Metamorphics Media LLC (formerly Strubco), a gay and lesbian list consultancy, as well as publisher of POZ, a magazine for people living with AIDS. “It is right for his death to spark activism and organizing for change; it is wrong to exploit his death inappropriately or without the consent and approval of his family.”

GMHC describes itself in its literature as “the world’s oldest and largest not-for-profit AIDS organization.” The pitch letter begins by discussing Shepard’s murder as the result of homophobia, then jumps to a discussion of “AIDSphobia.”

“The connection between the organization’s work and the issue is not as compelling as it might have been,” says Kerry Lobel, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force in Washington, DC. She adds the idea may be that homophobia is behind denying AIDS research and prevention any support because it is still widely perceived as a gay disease: “It’s a stretch, since it’s not directly connected with the subject of the letter.”

Calls to GMHC for comment were not returned. -JB

A test mailing of a Gay Men’s Health Crises fundraising letter using the Matthew Shepard tragedy as a hook to ask people to donate to the GMHC has angered many in the lesbian and gay fundraising community.

“This is exploitation of the worst kind – co-opting a tragedy that isn’t even tangential to their issues and trying to make a buck!” Richard Haymes, an irate recipient of the piece wrote to a number of people from various gay and lesbian organizations concerned about how such victims as Shepard are used and portrayed.

“Matthew’s murder has become, sadly, a mini-industry,” adds Sean Strub, chairman and creative director, Metamorphics Media LLC (formerly Strubco), a gay and lesbian list consultancy, as well as publisher of POZ, a magazine for people living with AIDS, and who received a copy of the e-mail. “It is right for his death to spark activism and organizing for change; it is wrong to exploit his death inappropriately or without the consent and approval of his family.”

GMHC describes itself in its literature as “the world’s oldest and largest not-for-profit AIDS organization.” The pitch letter begins by discussing Shepard’s murder as the result of homophobia, then jumps to a discussion of “AIDSphobia.”

“The connection between the organization’s work and the issue is not as compelling as it might have been,” Kerry Lobel, executive director, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Washington, D.C., and another person in the e-mail network. She also noted that the idea may be that homophobia is behind denying AIDS research and prevention any support because it is still widely perceived as a gay disease, adding, “It’s a stretch since its not directly connected with the subject of the letter.”

DIRECT Newsline was unable to reach anyone at GMHC by deadline for comment.