The Plot Thickens

Full Video Of Dallas BBQ “Gay Bashing” Raises Questions About Victim’s Claims

Remember that Dallas BBQ “gay bashing” from May? We covered it here, here and here. In case your memory needs refreshing, 32-year-old Jonathan Snipes reported being punched, kicked, and attacked by two men shouting antigay slurs at the Chelsea spot after he accidentally knocked over a drink while rushing out of the restaurant after hearing about a death in his family.

Well, the full video of the brawl has been released to The G-List Society by Dallas BBQ and, well, it looks like Snipes has some explaining to do.

In the video, Snipes is shown arguing with boyfriend Ethan York-Adams, then stomping towards the exit of the restaurant in a huff, but not before he starts the altercation with Bayna El-Amin.

El-Amin acknowledges his role in the altercation, but claims he suffered injuries and was fearful for his own safety. You can read that interview in its entirety here.

We all know how it ended, but now that we know how it began, we have all sorts of questions for Snipes that we’d love for him to reach out to Queerty to answer:

• Why was the first stop to the press and not police? (Also, to DNA Info reporter Aidan Gardiner: weren’t you warned against reporting single-source stories on day one of J-school?)

• Why did you say you were attacked by multiple people when the video clearly shows El-Amin as the only attacker?

• Why did you say that you wouldn’t “take it to that level” when the video clearly shows you throwing the first object?

• Did El-Amin really call you and your boyfriend “white faggots,” or was that a fabrication like the phantom second attacker?

There are some unsubstantiated reports that you dropped an N-bomb on El-Amin, and we’re not talking about “neighbor.” Would you care to respond to that?

Anti-LGBT violence is a very real threat to LGBT people everywhere, but it does the issue a disservice when people pass off messy, drunken altercations as hate crimes and freely stoke racist stereotypes to do so.

It’s starting to seem as if Mr. Snipes and his boyfriend have done just that, so it will be quite interesting to see what they have to say about the video now that all sides are out.

We’re waiting.  Reach out at [email protected].

Rob Smith is a multimedia journalist and author of Closets, Combat and Coming Out: Coming of Age as a Gay Man in the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Army. He can be reached on Twitter @robsmithonline.

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