An Ottawa man has been acquitted of assaulting a drag queen who was put in a coma after an incident at Centretown Pub.

Andrew Lefebvre's lawyers argued he acted in self defence when he struck Michael Marcel -- a female impersonator known as Dixie Landers -- at the Centretown Pub in May 2007.

Lefebvre testified he punched Marcil two or three times after the impersonator attacked his girlfriend. Marcil fell down a flight of stairs and was put in a coma.

The incident angered Ottawa's gay community, which viewed it as a case of gay bashing.

The jury took less than one day to acquit Lefebvre.