Barry Miles, pre-attack and post-attack. – Photos: Instagram.
A gay man was brutally attacked after leaving a popular gay bar in San Francisco last weekend, ending up in the hospital with serious injuries.
In an Instagram post showing him in a neck brace with bruises and dried blood all over his face, Barry Miles wrote that he was jumped by two unknown men after leaving Powerhouse, a popular LGBTQ bar on Folsom Street in the city’s SoMa neighborhood.
Miles wrote that his wallet was stolen, and that he suffered a heart attack during the assault due to high cholesterol, requiring doctors to put in two stents.
“My face hit the sidewalk,” he wrote. “Also a front tooth was knocked out, and a small fracture in my neck. I’m pretty banged up.”
Miles is a well-known figure in San Francisco’s local LGBTQ community. He’s a former titleholder of the Krewe de Kinque charitable Mardi Gras club, a former Mr. May 2016 of the charity Bare Chest Calendar, and has been involved with several other local organizations.
According to The San Francisco Standard, the Powerhouse draws large crowds on Saturday nights. On weekends, a taco truck is typically stationed outside the bar, which is on the same block as another LGBTQ venue, Hole in the Wall.
The San Francisco Police Department confirmed to the Standard that officers responded to a well-being check on nearby Langton Street, just minutes after midnight on Sunday, Feb. 5.
“The victim was unable to provide details regarding what led up to his injuries,” a department spokesperson told the newspaper. “Officers responded to a business on the 1300 block of Folsom Street, where the male stated he had come from and during their initial investigation, officers were unable to determine that a crime had occurred at that location.”
Gary Virginia, a local LGBTQ leader, organized a GoFundMe page for Miles, who is the self-employed owner of a housekeeping business, and whom Virginia says will need extensive medical care to recover from his injuries.
“This fund will directly support Barry’s living expenses for the next three months or more, and he will need dental surgery including a tooth implant,” the description in the GoFundMe reads. “Any size donation will help us reach our initial goal and allow Barry to focus on healing.”
So far, more than $14,000 has been raised to help Miles.
While San Francisco is often considered one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the country, there have been occasional outbreaks of violence directed against gays.
Last year, a gay man, Pepe Solis, was beaten unconscious and subsequently placed in a medically-induced coma after sustaining serious industries as part of a late-night assault that occurred in the Castro, the city’s most well-known gay neighborhood, according to the Bay Area Reporter.
San Francisco Pride President Nguyen Pham condemned the attack against Miles in a statement.
“All of us at San Francisco Pride condemn this horrific attack against a member of our community,” Pham said. “While we might not know the motive for the attack, we cannot ignore the growing nationwide trend of violence against the LGBTQ+ community, from the streets to the statehouses.
“We remain in solidarity with Barry, as well as other victims of anti-LGBTQ+ hate, and we will hold him in our hearts toward his speedy recovery.”
The Boston Police Department has released photos of eight men suspected of involvement in an alleged hate crime against a gay couple in the city’s Mattapan neighborhood earlier this month. The images, several of them blurry, depict men of varying ages: one in a Red Sox hat with a white shirt and jacket; another with a small white beard wearing a Bass Pro Shop hat and black shirt; and a third, bald and in a maroon V-neck, sporting round sunglasses.
The other five suspects are pictured in varied outfits: a long-sleeved white shirt with jeans and white sneakers; an olive long-sleeve shirt with jeans; a black T-shirt and jacket with light blue pants, with hair in braids; a red sweatshirt with matching shorts; and a black-and-white tracksuit.
Adapting Alysia Abbott's acclaimed memoir about growing up with a single gay dad in '70s and '80s San Francisco, Fairyland shapes the unconventional coming-of-age story into a moving, warmly funny portrait of a bygone era of queer life and liberation.
Told from the point of view of little Alysia -- wonderfully played in her screen debut by Nessa Dougherty -- the film, like the book, which is subtitled A Memoir of My Father, focuses on the myriad ways her dad Steve's choices come to affect and influence the person she turns out to be.
A writer and a poet, Steve Abbott is portrayed by Scoot McNairy, whose awards-worthy performance really is the heart of the film. He and Dougherty forge an endearing onscreen rapport beautifully conveying how precocious Alysia, a budding writer herself, looks up to her scruffy, artsy daddy with unconditional trust and admiration.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating an assault in Logan Circle in which a man allegedly threatened violence against a passerby in what may have been a hate crime.
The incident happened around 10:30 a.m. on September 15 at 14th and R Streets NW. Police say the suspect, identified as 39-year-old Marshall Baxter, jumped in front of the victim -- a neighborhood resident -- and swung his fists, narrowly missing them.
According to an MPD press release, Baxter, who has no fixed address, allegedly shouted a homophobic slur at the victim.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.