Quote:
Friends and family of former Canadian hostage James Loney kept his homosexuality secret during his captivity to protect his security, says a co-director of Christian Peacemaker Teams.
"It's a sad reality around the whole world today that gays and lesbians are more vulnerable to violence than straight people," said Doug Pritchard.
"And we were concerned in Jim's current vulnerable state of captivity that if that was more widely known, that he could be more vulnerable."
Loney, 41, and two CPT colleagues – Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden and Briton Norman Kember – were rescued on March 23, four months after being taken hostage in Baghdad by a little-known Iraqi group.
A fourth abducted colleague, 54-year-old American Tom Fox, was shot to death earlier this month.
Loney's partner, Dan Hunt, chose to remain silent from the outset of the hostage-taking. Loney first mentioned his partner after he arrived in Canada on Sunday.
"I'm going to disappear for a little while into a different kind of abyss – an abyss of love," Loney said at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. "I need some time to get reacquainted with my partner Dan."
Hunt made his first public appearance when he greeted his partner Sunday.
"It's a sad reality around the whole world today that gays and lesbians are more vulnerable to violence than straight people," said Doug Pritchard.
"And we were concerned in Jim's current vulnerable state of captivity that if that was more widely known, that he could be more vulnerable."
Loney, 41, and two CPT colleagues – Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden and Briton Norman Kember – were rescued on March 23, four months after being taken hostage in Baghdad by a little-known Iraqi group.
A fourth abducted colleague, 54-year-old American Tom Fox, was shot to death earlier this month.
Loney's partner, Dan Hunt, chose to remain silent from the outset of the hostage-taking. Loney first mentioned his partner after he arrived in Canada on Sunday.
"I'm going to disappear for a little while into a different kind of abyss – an abyss of love," Loney said at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. "I need some time to get reacquainted with my partner Dan."
Hunt made his first public appearance when he greeted his partner Sunday.
While most of me is cheering for his safety in general, there's a part of me critically considering the positive effects this will have on the image of the GLBT community...I mean, how can you possibly demonize a man who's gone through what he has, especially as a member of a Christian Peacekeeper Organization that actually lives up to its name?
