Gay Bashing at local gay bar

This is coming from a VERY credible source, and its extremely disturbing.

I hang out at this bar all the time. Its my favorite spot in Minneapolis, and is about 2 blocks from my apartment building. This is fucking scary. As the story below indicates, the fact that this can happen in a city like Minneapolis and a neighborhood like Loring Park really says something about the world that homosexuals still have to face. God, this sucks.

It would be nice to at least feel safe where I live.

Gay Bashing at the 19 Bar
posted by Andy Birkey at 6:28 PM on July 26, 2006

"I was playing darts with friends last night at the 19 Bar, Minnesota's oldest LGBT bar (est. 1952), when a man came in and approached the bartender (apparently to ask for change for bus fare). A patron at the bar spoke to the guy (may have hit on him?) and the guy beat the patron to the ground and began kicking him while he was down. He took off out the door, and then for some reason, several minutes later, he ducked his head back in.

That's when Brandon the bartender, myself, and 2 friends ran outside and found him standing at the bus station at the corner, re-enacting the beating to his friends. Brandon dialed 911 and after very brief wait (maybe 2 minutes) for the Minneapolis Police Department, the guy was arrested and thrown into the back of the squad car.

It's unfortunate that this stuff still happens. Even if the guy was upset at getting hit on by another guy (which is not clear in this case), this kind of violence is uncalled for and, unfortunately, happens a lot more than is actually reported. Imagine if every woman who was subject to unwanted advances in straight clubs beat down every guy who was harrassing them. We still live in a climate where violent acts are committed based on bias against LGBT people, even in progressive Minnesota, ultra-liberal Minneapolis, uber-gay Loring Park. And in my favorite hangout, the 19 Bar.

I think it's important to acknowledge the quick thinking by Brandon at the 19 Bar, and the very quick response by MPD. They've taken a lot of heat lately with rising crime, and their response to this crime was incredible."