WASHINGTON – When the news broke of Hugh Hefner’s death, expressions of condolence and affection poured in from all corners of pop culture, from John Lurie to Kim Kardashian, Gene Simmons to Paula Abdul.

Unsurprisingly, the perspective of anti-porn crusaders was not as positive as those who term him a “legend” or a “champion of great writing and freedom of speech.”

“Hugh Hefner leaves behind a legacy of sexual exploitation and public health harms,” said Patrick Trueman, president of the National Center On Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) in a statement issued by the organization. “Playboy popularized the commodification of the female body in soft-core pornographic magazines in the 1960s, and it laid the groundwork for the public health crisis of Internet pornography that America is experiencing today.”

If you’re not familiar with Patrick Trueman, he’s “a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders,” according to Wikipedia.

Wait a minute… Patrick Trueman is a fictional character?

Don’t tell that to the NCOSE, which insists Trueman is a real person who used to serve as the head of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) at the U. S. Department of Justice.

You’d never know that from reading Wikipedia, however, which doesn’t appear to have a page for the real Patrick Trueman. A search for the name doesn’t take you to a page with various options; it delivers you directly to the listing for the fictional Patrick Trueman, which includes photos of Rudolph Walker, the Trinidadian actor who plays Trueman on EastEnders.

In my view, the fact Wikipedia seems unaware of the real Patrick Trueman’s existence is bad news for Trueman and the NCOSE, because it’s emblematic of the cultural irrelevance of both. But that’s another rant for another day.

Going back to the NCOSE statement released upon Hefner’s death, Trueman bemoans the fact the media has “erupted in praise for his alleged championing of free speech” and, in a broader sense, what praise for Hefner says about our society’s view of women.

“Hugh Hefner was not a champion of free speech. He was a pioneer in the sexual objectification and use of women,” Trueman said. “Research shows that Playboy historically portrays female sexuality as subordination and universal availability to the male gaze. How can our society accept, let alone applaud, these messages about the value of women when we are simultaneously struggling with campus sexual assault, military sexual assault and the culture of sexual harassment in Silicon Valley?”

Yes, how can anybody “accept, let alone applaud” messages about the value of women –- except maybe in the context supporting a Republican candidate for President of the United States who has bragged on tape about his ability to grope women with impunity?

The NCOSE declared its enthusiasm for Trump’s arrival in the Oval Office in January, in part because “many within Trump’s transition team are social conservatives for whom issues of sexual exploitation are already of great concern.”

“They recognize the harm that unfettered access to hard-core pornography has unleashed on this nation,” the NCOSE said in a statement announcing a press conference at which the group delineated its policy recommendations to Congress and the Trump administration. “They see the effects of the ‘pornification’ of the culture in phenomena like sexting and revenge porn. They understand how demand for prostitution fuels sex trafficking. Many will be in a position where they can take action to curb exploitation.”

Gee, no mention of Trump’s “locker room talk,” or how such might be viewed as a symptom of the country’s “pornification?” I’m shocked.

It’s almost as though NCOSE is willing to omit any reference to misogyny, the “culture of sexual harassment” or the “sexual objectification and use of women” if the person they’re talking about falls into the same range of the political spectrum as their organization.

Nah, that can’t be it, because the organization tells us at the bottom of its press releases that its mission is to “expose the seamless connection between all forms of sexual exploitation.”

Plus, Trump famously signed a pledge to “protect children from sexual exploitation online” and aggressively “enforce existing federal (obscenity) laws,” so he takes this whole evil of porn thing very seriously, obviously.

I mean, this is a guy who would never promise to do something just to score political points, then fail to live up to his promise later, right? Riiiight.

Image: Patrick Trueman, president, National Center on Sexual Exploitation.