Comedian defends lesbian hecklers rant

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 26 (UPI) -- A Canadian comedian accused of rights abuses because he insulted two lesbians who heckled him in a Vancouver restaurant says he's not homophobic.

The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal announced it would review a complaint against Toronto's Guy Earle based on an incident in March 2007, when Earle responded onstage to heckling by two women, The Province newspaper in Vancouver reported.

Lorna Pardy brought the matter to the tribunal, which said this week it would review the case.

In an interview with the Canwest News Service, Earle said he reacted as a performer, and not as a homophobe.

"I was very rude and visceral to them because ... if you have a heckler, what you want to do is put them in their place by offending them, so I tried to hit them where it hurts and the only thing I had to key on was the fact that they were lesbians," he said. "I don't care if they're lesbians, heterosexuals, homosexuals or giraffes."

A date for the hearing wasn't published.