Tarlach MacNiallais, Gay Activist, Beaten By Bar Bouncers For Dancing With Man

Just two months after two men were caught on tape beating a gay man nearly to death, and a week after the New York State Senate rejected a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, a prominent gay activist was attacked by bouncers at a Queens nightclub on Saturday for dancing with another man.

The New York Post reports that Tarlach MacNiallais, 47, was "punched and kicked and had a chair smashed over his head" by guards at the Guadalajara De Noche restaurant around 12:30 a.m.

According to MacNiallais, after seeing him dancing with a man, a bouncer told him that "this is not a gay bar" and that he could not do that there.

MacNiallais is the spokesman for the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization, a group that lobbies for gays to be included in the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.