Headed home after finishing a Wednesday night shift, Tommy Castellani, an employee of the Castro bar Badlands (4121 18th Street), was brutally beaten in an act of bigoted violence according to his sister, Julia DePetrillo, who has created a GoFundMe.com page to raise money to pay for his medical expenses.

The attack happened in the early hours of Thursday, as Hoodline first reported, and it's unclear on what block in the neighborhood the attack occurred  or if it was right outside the bar itself. SFist has reached out to Badlands and awaits comment.

[Update: Castellani reached out to SFist to clarify that he is a doorman at Badlands, and was actually off work on the night in question, singing karaoke at the Café. "It happened after that on 17th and Hartford. It is still unclear why this happened," he explains.]

"Tommy had to have emergency surgery to basically re-attach his fractured jaw to his skull as well as other unpleasant fractured and broken details," DePetrillo writes, "This all costs a ton of money." She also notes that he had "big plans" for this year and had been working extra shifts to save for these, and now he's out of work indefinitely to heal.

Gladly, the campaign has already exceeded its $5,000 goal, and Castellani appears to be staying positive.





“You can bash my face, but you will not get my spirit," Castellani says via Facebook. "You can not take the love that has been given to me from all of you. I am unafraid. I only feel blessings. I will heal and I will still be beautiful. You have done nothing but brought bad karma and the promise of a long stay in hell. Your hatred and evil have only wrapped me in so much love from all around me. You have only increased my spiritual wealth."

That was a sentiment similar to the one expressed by a victim of another gay bashing, Jeffery Lafayette. Around the time of the Super Bowl in the Marina outside Hi Fi Lounge on Lombard, Lafayette attracted the attention of a group of 20 or so straight men with for wearing tight white pants, and after hurling insults at him they beat him until a bartender reportedly fended them off. "The strength of your love is more powerful than any fist!" Lafayette said in a video taken after the incident.

Castellani, who hails from the Bronx, was discharged from the hospital Friday, and posted the joking message, "Can only eat soft foods so lots of broth, woohoo 10 more pounds off..."

Related: Confirmed: Gay Bashing Took Place In The Marina, Outside Hi Fi Lounge