San Antonio Gay Bar Workers Beaten in Alleged Anti-Gay Attack
Employees of the San Antonio, Texas gay bar The Saint Showbar said they were brutally beaten outside their place of employment in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Dec. 17, and they believe it was because they are gay.
"I'm mad. I'm sad that my friend and I had to go through this experience that he had to be in the pain he was in," Daniel Ramos told Fox News. "My head hurts. My face hurts."
Ramos, who said he's worked at the Saint for two years, says he was attacked when two men in a black Silverado pulled up and asked for jumper cables so they could help a friend.
"They pulled up. They weren't really parked in any parking space," he explained.
When Ramos' friend turned his back to look for the jumper cables, he said the beating began.
"Random guys asking for our help, we were willing to help them, but then all of a sudden, it was an attack," Ramos said.
The men started punching his friend, who did not want to be identified. He said that the men yelled gay slurs at them as they punched him.
"I come to work thinking that it's a gay establishment, I'm a gay individual, my boss is gay, I'm supposed to feel safe," Ramos said.
"I heard the commotion and went around to try to help, got hit in the face by the second guy," Ramos explained. "Fortunately, I only got hit once. Nothing as extreme as my friend. My friend was actually beat up pretty bad where he had to be admitted into trauma."
Still, Ramos believes they were attacked because of their sexual orientation, saying, "Maybe because we're gay. They were obviously straight guys."
The suspects fled before police arrived, but Ramos said a surveillance camera caught the incident. San Antonio Police have not said if they will investigate this as a hate crime.
But Ramos said, "I've never, never been assaulted this way. Stuff like this really needs to stop."