A gay man in England tells Out he was brutally assaulted without provocation by bouncers at a popular LGBTQ+ nightclub in Manchester over the weekend.
Ronan Gordon visited Bloom Nightclub in the Manchester Gay Village in the early morning hours of Saturday, January 22, when he says bouncers assaulted him in an "unprovoked attack,'' knocking him unconscious and leaving him with numerous injuries. Gordon also says he is going to need surgery for his wounds.
"I remember coming out of the toilet and one bouncer grabbed my friend and they said, 'No, it's not him,' and then they got me and I ask, 'What's the problem?''' Gordon tells Out. "They manhandled me to the stairs where I remember five all hit and pulling me. I passed out and fell, and one bouncer was telling them to stop because I was floppy. I don't remember much."
When pressed, Bloom Nighclub responded to Gordon with a message posted to social media, claiming Gordon was "detained" in a "Code Red" incident after he allegedly attacked a "female member of door staff." They also said he spat on security personnel and that his alleged assault resulted in head injuries to at least one staff member.
Screenshot via Ronan Gordon
Gordon denies the assertions he attacked security.
"None of what they said is true," Gordon says. "I didn't attack any member of their staff. They said two restrained me and I still managed to attack more staff. I'm an eight-stone lad (112 pounds)."
Bloom subsequently deleted the message and later posted a formal response to their social media accounts, stating they were "aware and deeply shocked" by the incident, have suspended the staff involved, and are fully cooperating with an ongoing police investigation.
According to the comments on Bloom's post, however, this isn't the first time the bouncers at Bloom Nightclub have been an issue for members of the community.
"The door staff have been nothing but disgusting, aggressive, and violent for years," one commenter wrote.
Another commenter described the security team as "appalling" while another said the club's current statement is little more than "litigation mitigation."
Out reached out to Bloom Nightclub for comment, but representatives had not responded at the time this story was published.
For his part, Gordon tells Out the incident has left him emotionally and physically scarred.
"I just don't feel safe even in the gay village," he says.
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