Gerald Hannon (born 1944 in New Brunswick) is a controversial Canadian journalist. A recurring theme in his work has been exposing popular culture's use of misplaced child abuse concerns as a socially acceptable cover for homophobia; ironically, his work has itself been misrepresented as personally endorsing pedophilia.
The Body Politic
In 1971, Hannon joined the editorial group that produced the Toronto gay magazine The Body Politic, and was one of its most prolific writers. In the magazine's November 1977 issue, Hannon published an article titled "Men Loving Boys Loving Men", a profile of three pedophiles. Because the article presented the three men in a relatively sympathetic light, in December of that year Toronto Sun journalist Claire Hoy began publishing columns attacking Hannon and The Body Politic for promoting child abuse.
The magazine's offices were raided by Toronto police on December 30 of that year. Twelve boxes of material, including the magazine's subscription lists, were taken.
On January 5, 1978, the paper and its publishers were charged under Section 164 of the Canadian Criminal Code with "use of the mails to distribute immoral, indecent or scurrilous material". The case reached trial on January 2, 1979, with prosecution testimony by Hoy and Ken Campbell; in six days of testimony, only one piece of evidence -- a copy of the issue containing Hannon's article -- was entered into evidence.
On February 14, The Body Politic was acquitted of the charges. At the subsequent press conference, Ed Jackson, one of the magazine's publishers, responded to a question about an Ontario Arts Council grant the magazine had received; the comment was misrepresented the following day in the Toronto Star.
The Body Politic subsequently sued the Star for defamation, but on March 6, the Crown appealed the February 14 acquittal; The Body Politic dropped the defamation suit since it could not afford two simultaneous court cases.
On May 31, 1982, the appeal hearing began, and on June 15, the magazine was acquitted a second time. On July 13, the Crown appealed again; that appeal was rejected. On October 15, 1983, the magazine achieved victory when the final deadline for Crown appeals passed.
However, the saga was not over for Hannon.
Ryerson University
The Body Politic ceased publication in 1987, a few years after its publisher (now incorporated as Pink Triangle Press) launched the tabloid Xtra!; Hannon became a freelance journalist. He also occasionally worked as a prostitute, and was employed as a part-time journalism instructor at Ryerson University.
On July 8, 1994, Hannon reviewed Judy Steed 's book Our Little Secret in Xtra!, noting that the book's portrayal of child abuse bordered on homophobia. Hannon's review was partially responsible for the collapse of a deal to have Steed's book sold as a fundraiser for the National Action Committee on the Status of Women .
On March 11, 1995, he published an investigative report in The Globe and Mail on "Project Guardian", a London child pornography ring led by Julian Fantino which targeted the city's gay community, finding no evidence of child pornography but resulting in the arrest of 45 gay men on falsified charges. Hannon alleged that the child pornography investigation was merely a smokescreen for a homophobic witch hunt. In May, Fantino filed a complaint with the Ontario Press Council . On November 9, the press council ruled that the article should have been labelled an opinion piece.
On November 11, two days after the press council ruling, Steed, in a conference speech, attacked the chair of Ryerson's journalism program for employing Hannon as a part-time journalism instructor.
On November 14, Toronto Sun journalist Heather Bird alleged, falsely, that Hannon had used the press council hearing as an opportunity to prosyletize pedophilia to his journalism students. In actual fact, the only time he had raised the subject in the classroom was as an example within a discussion of journalistic ethics, to spark discussion on whether or not a journalist has a responsibility to present their subject fairly regardless of their personal views.
Over the next ten days, Hannon was in the news daily as Steed and Bird deliberately misrepresented Hannon's views, citing both the Project Guardian article and "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" as "proof" that Hannon personally endorsed pedophilia and child pornography. In a letter to the Toronto Star, Steed implied (falsely) that Hannon was a member of NAMBLA.
On November 24, Toronto police dropped their investigation, stating that there was no evidence of any culpable behaviour on Hannon's part. The following day, the Toronto Sun ran an exposé on Hannon's occasional prostitution, under the headline RYERSON PROF: I'M A HOOKER.
Ryerson suspended Hannon on November 26. On the 27th, the Canadian Union of Public Employees filed a grievance on Hannon's behalf, noting that there were no grounds for a disciplinary enquiry since no staff or student of the university had complained about any inappropriate behaviour on Hannon's part. In the subsequent press coverage, Steed compared Hannon to Ernst Zundel.
Hannon was never reinstated at Ryerson. His contract was officially terminated in April of 1996, and a settlement was reached in September.
Michael Valpy, one of Hannon's few defenders in the press, wrote: Mr. Hannon ... teaches in an adult setting whose purpose is to encourage debate, discussion and challenge. Does freedom to philosophize, however unpopular, necessarily undermine society and conventional morality? Or is a good society impossible without freedom to philosophize?
Fantino was appointed chief of police in Toronto in 2000, which was particularly controversial within the city's gay community. As of 2005, he has still never successfully refuted Hannon's allegation that Project Guardian was an exercise in homophobic harassment.
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