"Everyone saw it coming and they did nothing," she said. "And when it did happen, they did everything they could to get them out of there before the police arrived." Ms McCarthy said she and others complained to bar staff and security about the menacing behaviour of a group of men at the King Street venue from about 11.30pm. "There was four or five of them following me around, yelling 'faggot' at me," she said. "One of them kept deliberately bumping into me. I had my ponytail pulled a couple of times. "They just kept serving them, they didn't throw them out. Even my friends were saying 'These guys are going to do something to Steph if you don't do anything about it.' "

Ms McCarthy, who is two metres tall, turned to confront the men verbally after one of them pulled her hair, only to have one grab her by the shirt. After defensively grabbing the man's shirt in return - and then grabbing a plastic glass after one of his friends threatened to stab her - Ms McCarthy said she was struck on the head by a punch she did not see coming. "I was told that, by the end of it, I had one guy holding my head right down low while the other was repeatedly punching me in the face," she said. "One of the security guards was standing five metres away behind a glass door which he didn't even open. He ran downstairs, leaving me to get bashed." Bystander Matthew, who declined to give Fairfax Media his last name, said he saw the security guard standing by while he restrained one of two men involved in the alleged attack.

Matthew said he also overheard a member of staff say that she knew the men. The venue appeared to display "less concern for the patrons and more concern about legal ramifications from the point of view of the hotel", he said. Ms McCarthy was deeply critical of the hotel's conduct following the alleged attack. A security guard was also overheard instructing one of the main offenders to "get out of here before the police arrive" rather than detaining him, she said. In a week otherwise marked by the glamorous public unveiling of Caitlyn Jenner, "this is the reality for trans people, unfortunately", Ms McCarthy said. The Town Hall Hotel declined to comment as the incident was now a police matter.

However, a post on the venue's Facebook page by a person identifying herself as its "sound lady", Sally, said staff were left "stunned and upset by what happened and dealt with the aftermath as best they could". "We have CCTV footage and want to see justice served for the victim, we are doing what we can to help the police with their enquiries," it said. "What happened last night was shit, we in no way condone this behaviour and have not seen it happen at The Townie in recent years." Inspector Andrew Garner, the duty officer at Newtown Local Area Command, said the CCTV footage was "not great" and police were in the process of obtaining further footage from the venue. He urged anyone who saw the incident to come forward.

"We're working with the victim, making inquiries and investigating what we have in front of us," Inspector Garner said.