By Christopher Cappiello

Captivity Included the Closet for Gay Christian Hostage

When Canadian peace activist James Loney was rescued from captivity in Iraq on March 23 by a multinational special operations force, he left not only the dingy west Baghdad house where he was held, but also the closet he had stayed in for four horrible months of captivity.

"It was excruciating not to be able to speak out for James," Dan Hunt, Loney's partner, told Canada's National Post. Hunt remained invisible following the Nov. 26 kidnapping of Loney and three colleagues from Christian Peacemaker Teams, a Toronto-based organization of peace activists, fearing that Loney's captors would be crueler if they knew he was gay.

The bloodless rescue mission freed Loney, fellow Canadian Harmeet Sooden and Norman Kember of Great Britain. A fourth captor, American Tom Fox, was found dead March 11. Fox was bound, wrapped in plastic and shot through the back of the head.

Loney told the National Post that his commitment to working for peace was still strong. "It is my responsibility to try to take some of the risks soldiers take, using tools of nonviolence instead of weapons of war."

Rights Groups Condemn Nigerian Anti-Gay Law

Timed to coincide with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo's March 29 visit to the United States, a group of 16 human rights organizations issued a letter to the African leader calling on him to withdraw legislation that would allow for the imprisonment of same-sex couples and those who participate in gay marriage-like ceremonies.

"The bill criminalizes public expressions of love and any defense of lesbian and gay rights, denying fundamental freedoms that should be enjoyed by all Nigerians," said Scott Long, director of Human Rights Watch's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program.

Last February, the U.S. State Department condemned the proposed bill, saying, "The freedoms of speech, association, expression, assembly, and religion are long-standing international commitments and are universally acknowledged. Nigeria, as a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has assumed important obligations on these matters." At the March 29 press conference following Obasanjo's meeting with President Bush, however, the issue was not mentioned.

Iraqi Gays Hunted by Shia Death Squads

A gay Iraqi man living in exile in London claims that special forces of the Shia Badr Corps in Iraq have been hunting down gay men for persecution and even execution following the fatwa against homosexuals issued last year by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, longtime LGBT journalist and activist Doug Ireland reported in New York's Gay City News, based on interviews with Ali Hili, the 33-year-old founder of Abu Nawas Group, a collective of exiled Iraqi gays.

"Badr militants are entrapping gay men via Internet chat rooms," Hili told Ireland. "They arrange a date, and then beat and kill the victim. Males who are unmarried by the age of 30 or 35 are placed under surveillance on suspicion of being gay, as are effeminate men."

The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) is a Shia political group sponsoring the Badr Corps. SCIRI operated in Tehran, Iran, during Saddam Hussein's reign, but has since become a powerful element in Iraqi politics, with U.S. approval for their participation in the formation of a new Iraqi government.

The 77-year-old Sistani last year called for sexually active gays to be "killed in the worst, most severe way," according to Ireland. "Since Sistani's fatwa, the life of a gay person is worth nothing here," a gay man in Baghdad identified only as Tahseen told Ireland. "We desperately need protection, but when we go to the Americans, they laugh at us and don't do anything."

"In the late '80s and early '90s there were a couple of gay clubs in Baghdad, but they were all shut down in 1993 after sanctions were imposed against Saddam's regime and Iraq," Hili said. He fled persecution in 2002, first traveling to Dubai, then Jordan, Syria, and, finally, England.

25 Percent of Young Gays Attempt Suicide in N. Ireland

The Rainbow Project, a Belfast LGBT organization, announced March 29 that a new study showed that 25 percent of young gay men in Northern Ireland have attempted suicide, and more than twice as many have considered ending their life. The "Out on Your Own" study was conducted over three years and involved almost 200 gay men under 25. It was released during a conference in Belfast focused on gay youth.

The study also revealed that more than one third of the youth surveyed had been diagnosed with a mental disorder at some point and most experienced homophobia at home and in school.

"The needs of this population need to be included in the strategic planning of organizations that work with young people," the study concludes, "accompanied by inclusive policies which address the needs of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people and staff training."

Chinese Students Get D in AIDS Awareness

A recent government-sponsored survey shows that less than 70 percent of Chinese college students have a full understanding of the transmission and ramifications of HIV/AIDS.

In a study conducted by the Ministry of Health, almost 2,000 students were surveyed at 24 universities in 19 cities, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Less than half of those surveyed were aware that a simple blood test could detect the virus, and only 57.8 percent knew that AIDS could be fatal. Almost 25 percent did not know how to prevent transmission of the virus. More than half of the students questioned said they would avoid contact with someone known to have HIV.

In February China announced a new policy mandating free testing and medical care for people with HIV/AIDS and prohibiting discrimination against AIDS patients.

The Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS warned last year that China could have as many as 10 million people with HIV/AIDS by 2010 if it didn't seriously accelerate awareness and prevention programs. In January China estimated that there are 650,000 people living with HIV in the country of 1.3 billion.