Jordan Smith has been in the news again recently and I was very pleased to have a portrait I took illustrate the article…I consider his story a landmark case for human rights in Canada.

“2010 has already proven to be a significant year for Vancouver in the fight against homophobic violence.  On April 30th, BC Supreme Court Justice Joel Groves agreed with Crown counsel to declare a hate crime verdict in the case of Jordan Smith against his attacker Michael Kandola, one of two high profile assault cases involving anti-gay slurs at trial this year. The second case, which also occurred in Vancouver’s gay neighbourhood, involves the brutal attack that left 63 year old Ritchie Dowrey in a coma and with severe brain damage.  It is set to go to trial on July 21st in Vancouver provincial court. Witnesses say they heard the accused, Shawn Woodward, say, “He’s a faggot.  He deserved it.”
“If this crime is not punished accordingly, we all lose something,” said Dowrey’s friend Lindsay Wincherauk.”

- Nelson Wong, LOV Magazine, July/August 2010 issue.

You can read the full story here on page 12 + 13 of the current issue.