Updated: Tue Oct. 14 2008 13:54:26

ctvbc.ca

A Vancouver court has upgraded charges against a 20-year-old accused of attacking a gay man last month.

The Crown has charged Michael Kandola, 20, with aggravated assault for the Sept. 27 incident.

Kandola was initially charged with assault causing bodily harm in connection with the assault when a man was punched while walking hand-in-hand with a friend in downtown Vancouver.

Vancouver police fought to have the case prosecuted as a hate crime because of alleged slurs over the victim's sexual orientation.

Jordan Smith, 27, says his assailant yelled at him before he was hit in the face and knocked to the ground. His jaw was broken in three places.

"They started screaming obscenities at us, fags, queers, anything you can imagine," Smith told CTV News Sept. 28. "The stuff they said to us was disgusting."

Kandola was released without bail Tuesday morning after his court appearance, but with conditions that include having no contact with the victim, and a ban on entering the gay district in the city's West End.

He will return to court October 27.

Vancouverites march against homophobia

Hundreds marched and held hands in downtown Vancouver Sunday in a rally to condemn the targeted attack.

The assault has raised concerns in Vancouver's gay community that similar incidents aren't being reported. A series of community forums are scheduled for next month, named in honour of Aaron Webster, a gay man who was beaten to death in 2001.

"I would encourage people to come forward and report these things to show people they can't get away with it," Aaron Webster's cousin Denise Norman told CTV News on Sunday.

The forum organizers are also launching a fundraising campaign to hire a dedicated victim services worker.