Petrelis Files

(Ex-Iraqi hostage James Loney, left, with his companion Dan Hunt. Photo credit: Joshua Meles, Xtra! )





Xtra!: Gay Ex-Iraqi Hostage Honored by Toronto Pride Committee

To me and my sometimes media-saturated mind, it feels like it was more than a year ago when two Canadian hostages from the Catholic Workers peace organization, one of whom, James Loney, happened to be gay, were rescued and news circulated around the world about their peace-making efforts and Loney's sexual orientation.

Actually, it was about three shorts months ago when this story was in the media, and now, we learn from Toronto's gay newspaper Xtra! that Loney and his longtime partner Dan Hunt will be honored next week with the Fearless Award from Toronto's Gay Pride committee for their commitment to peaceful advocacy.

From the Xtra! article:

By now, most everyone has heard the story of James Loney. A Canadian activist and Toronto resident, Loney travelled to Iraq in November 2005 on his third delegation to that country with the Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT). Four days into his trip, on Nov 26, he and CPT members -- American Tom Fox, Brit Norman Kember and fellow Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden -- were kidnapped and held hostage by a group of Iraqis who called themselves the Swords Of Righteousness Brigade.

After four long months, and the murder of Fox, Loney, 41, and his two remaining team members were rescued by a multinational troop led by the British forces on Mar 23 of this year. He returned to Canada where he quickly became a media darling.

Yet there is a hidden piece to this saga. It's a love story really. It's a tale of two men, friends since the late 1970s and lovers for years, who were forced to hide their relationship in the face of intense media scrutiny for fear that the wrong word or a misplaced gesture would cause the kidnappers to kill Loney for being queer. [...]

In an effort to protect Loney's safety, the media, family, friends and CPT cooperated in not releasing any information about his sexual orientation. Hunt stayed hidden, always on the sidelines, never giving media interviews. Articles that Loney had written about their relationship were pulled from the Internet.

"On the second day of my captivity I thought, 'Oh shit, what if they find out I'm gay? What if they Google me?'" says Loney. He projected out a hope that someone at home would think to protect his orientation from being made public, but had a line in his head that he wanted to say if he ever got the chance to send a message publicly: "It's best that we not talk to Dorothy about this." [...]

Yet during Loney's captivity, Hunt was unable to share their love in public. The most frequently published photo of Loney -- the one with his head tilted a little to the side -- is actually a photo of the two of them with Loney's arm around Hunt. Hunt was cropped out.

"I had to utterly disappear, sort of erase myself," says Hunt. Though he had the support of family and friends, it was Loney's parents the prime minister called, not Hunt. [...]

In recognition of Pride Toronto's theme of Fearless, Loney and Hunt are being honoured as recipients of the Fearless award at its second annual gala on Tue, Jun 20.

"It's a healing thing to be seen and acknowledged after for me being in a tomb basically, being in a prison and in handcuffs. Being in terror of being discovered as being gay in that context," says Loney. [...]

I don't find it the least bit surprising that Loney has not quietly faded into the background on peace and social justice issues, even though it would be understandable if he took a break from his activism, after his hostage ordeal. Loney just yesterday was demonstrating for changes in Canada's terrorism statutes.

From the Globe and Mail story today:

[..] Another of Canada's terrorism-fighting provisions, the so-called security certificates that the federal government uses to deport non-citizens accused of terrorist ties, will be challenged at the Supreme Court today.

The five men targeted by such certificates had support yesterday from about a dozen demonstrators who gathered outside the building housing the Prime Minister's Office.

Among them was James Loney, the Christian Peacemaker held hostage earlier this year by anti-western dissidents in Iraq.

It's ironic, said Mr. Loney, that accused people can face indefinite detention in Canada and potential torture if they are eventually expelled.

"That must be terrifying," he said. "I think that would parallel the fear that I felt being in captivity."

Sounds to me like the Fearless Award for Loney and his partner Hunt is well deserved. Congratulations, men! Keep up the fine work.