This is so old.

Matthew Shepard was killed because of his sexual orientation, so it was a relevant part of the story.

Jesse Dirkhising was killed because a couple of sickos wanted to get their jollies with him and throw him away. The fact that they were homosexual only matters inasmuch as their prey was male instead of female.

Sexual predators are ubiquitous, and so they don't hit the news with any great force. Hate crimes against homosexuals are fairly rare, so they're more newsworthy.

Making it an issue of media bias is just more hate mongering.

Alex