Jackson Heights bar bouncers allegedly beat prominent gay activist

Roughly two months after two men allegedly beat a College Point man into a coma, bouncers at a Jackson Heights bar reportedly assaulted a prominent local activist because he was dancing with his partner.

Tarlach MacNiallais of the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization has alleged two security guards at Guadalajara de Noche on Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights assaulted him early Saturday, Dec. 5. Blogs and local media reported the two men wrestled MacNiallais to the ground and dragged him off the dance floor before they punched and kicked him. The security guards also allegedly smashed a chair over MacNiallais' head.

This attack is the latest in a series of anti-LGBT assaults that have rocked Queens in recent months.

Police contend Daniel Rodriguez, 21, and Daniel Aleman, 26, nearly beat Jack Price, 49, to death outside a College Point deli on Oct. 8 because of his sexual orientation.



Video courtesy of the Associated Press

A Queens County grand jury indicted Trinidad Tapia, 19, and Gilberto Ortiz, 32, on hate crimes charges late last month after they allegedly beat Leslie Mora, who is transgender, with a belt buckle as she walked along Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights on June 19. And the New York Police Department maintains Nathaniel Mims, 25, and Rasheed Thomas, 22, shouted anti-gay slurs at Carmella Etienne, who is also trans, before they attacked her with rocks and empty beer bottles as she walked home from a store near her St. Albans apartment on July 8.

Activist Brendan Fay and openly City Councilmember-elect Danny Dromm [D-Jackson Heights] both expressed to Boy in Bushwick their outrage over the alleged incident at Guadalajara de Noche. MacNiallais did not immediately return request for comment, but the NYPD continues to investigate his allegations.