"IMHO, the homosexual thing only distracts Sullivan from more important topics. He needs to rise above it."
And Martin Luther King, Jr., was far too brilliant a speaker to have allowed himself to be distracted by the black thing.
It's part of the essence of what he is. When someone you trust and support attacks the essence of what you are, it's more than a distraction.
You also assume that gays as a group are some kind of blackmailing mafia who will pressure him. What are they going to do? Out him? He's already a known conservative.
Or maybe this: "Dear Andrew Sullivan: I was going to ask you out because you're soooo buff, but since you won't support Kerry for President, I'm going to ask Karl." Some threat.