OSHAWA – As the trial for an Oshawa man accused of beating a lesbian couple continues, some Oshawa residents say the November 2008 incident stems from hatred towards homosexuality and ignorance within the suburban community.
"It’s a closeted community where the gays and lesbians hide . . . because of fear of being beaten up, bashed or harassed," said Jayme Harper, Ontario director of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), a gender-identity and sexual orientation support charity.
Harper said he also notices "a higher tone of racism in the Durham Region."
He and about a dozen members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community in Oshawa have attended both days of the trial for 44-year-old Mark Scott, who pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault after Anji Dimitriou and her partner, Jane Currie, were verbally and physically assaulted outside their children’s elementary school.
Both Dimitriou and Currie told Ontario Court Justice Katrina Mulligan that Scott attacked them in the parking lot of Gordon B. Attersley public school.
Both women testified that Scott asked Dimitriou, "Which one of you f—— ‘men’ talked to my kid?" Both women said he called them "dyke bitches."
They told the court Scott punched Currie once and Dimitriou twice.
Defence lawyer Mark Jacula said the women anticipated a confrontation and suggested Currie asked Scott if he got his licence out of a Cracker Jack box and called him a racial epithet.
Last November, Jacula issued a news release stating his client has been a victim of racial and physical abuse and is looking forward to his day in court.
"The truth surrounding this incident will come to light," Jacula wrote.
Jacula suggested Currie also called her neighbours a racial epithet in August 2007 when police were called to her Oshawa neighbourhood, alleging she also said: "That’s why people can’t stand your kind."
Currie denied ever using racial epithets to Scott or her neighbours in Thursday’s cross-examination. Dimitriou also said she never used racial descriptions when addressing Scott and her neighbours.
"If you know (Anji) you’d know she wouldn’t call anybody that because she has more black friends than Caucasian," Currie said.
Jacula suggested Currie attacked Scott on Nov. 3 and asked her if she remembered kicking him in the groin from the back.
"I remember his fist connecting with my face," Currie answered.
Currie told the court on Wednesday that she never spoke to Scott’s son, but Jacula produced a letter from the Crown’s office stating Currie told Crown counsel that she did, in fact, speak to the child on Oct. 31, 2008.
The conversation between Currie and Crown lawyer Paul Murray took place on Oct. 19 during a pre-trial meeting.
Currie told the court she does not remember telling Murray that she spoke to Scott’s son.
"I can’t recall so I can’t confirm or deny," Currie said. The trial enters its third day today.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.