Verdict In Vancouver Anti-Gay Attack Postponed Until Wednesday, New Westminster Celebrates First Ever Pride, Gay Jamaican Awarded New Canadian Refugee Hearing, Grade Eleven Moffie In Cape Town Not Allowed To Attend School, First Cast Picture Of Angels In America New York Revival, Zac Efron Out Of Gas, Channing Tatum More Than Masculine

The verdict in the trial of a Vancouver, British Columbia construction working accused of aggravated assault that left 63 year old Ritch Dowrey, openly gay, with a permanent brain injury, will not be rendered Tuesday as expected, the provincial court justice putting proceedings over until Wednesday. If Woodward admitting in court to making at least one anti-gay slur at Dowrey before hitting him once in the head with such violent force that he fell to the ground, hitting his head on the tile floor of the Fountainhead Pub, but Woodward said that those words and actions were motivated out of gay panic. If convicted of hate crime charges, that designation would be applied at sentencing.

New Westminster, British Columbia celebrated its first ever Gay Pride Day, Dan Dumsha and Mischa Bartkow leading the historic (and wholly improvised) Pride Parade up 6th street to City Hall where members of the LGBT community and their allies celebrated Diversity Day which was the culmination of a week-long series of events. On January 25th, Vance McFadyen and his partner Curt Higham, alongside several straight supporters, successfully lobbied the city council to finally proclaim Pride in the oldest settled city in the province.

45 year old Marlon Cunningham, a native of Jamaica who now resides in Toronto, married to his partner, also from Jamaica, will have his refugee request reviewed. His case was dismissed in September, 2009 after a member an Immigration and Refugee board failed to consider all the evidence, specifically the treatment of homosexuals in the Caribbean. The Federal Court of Canada approved Cunningham’s appeal last week, Justice Frederick Gibson, who authored the ruling, writing that the IRB member “erred in discounting reports of violence against homosexuals in Guyana,” adding that “the failure to consider relevant evidence would be sufficient to grant a judicial review. He faces risk if returned to Jamaica.”

19 year old Lascar Peterson, of Clarke Estates in Elsies River – a suburb of Cape Town, South Africa – says he is now longer permitted to attend classes at Lentegeur Secondary School because the principal refuses to allow the openly gay teenager on school grounds. Peterson says the problems began when a Grade 11 history teacher humiliated him in class, calling him a “moffie” because his parents failed to raise him right. The school disputes the student’s allegations; Principal Aboebakar Frieslaar denying any and all allegations that Peterson is being mistreated because of his sexual orientation, saying “he has been giving up problems. He is often not in classes and his is disruptive.”

The first pictures of the complete cast of the Signature Theatre Company’s first New York City revival of Tony Kushner’s two part Angels in America – Millennium Approaches and Perestroika – the ensemble cast featuring Zachary Quinto, Robin Weigert, and Bill Heck among others. Performances begin September 14th, both parts playing in repertory, and opening night scheduled for October 28th.

Zac Efron, seen Tuesday getting gas in Los Angeles, script in hand, is reportedly worried that Robert Pattinson has usurped his career, his latest film Charlie St. Cloud opening to less than stellar business this weekend.

Channing Tatum brings the butch to a business meeting Monday.