Oakland Musician Beaten, Alleges Gay Bashing

By: Andy Wright

Brontez Purnell, formerly a member of Oakland's energetic Gravy Train and currently a musician in Younger Lovers, and his bandmate Adal Castellon were beaten outside a club in Oakland last night —allegedly for being gay.

The musicians were at Club Paradiso on Telegraph Avenue when they were approached by two men around 2 a.m. who had also been at the club. As Purnell and Castellon were unlocking their bikes, the pair approached them, shouting gay slurs and telling them that “if they were in Jamaica they’d be dead," according to Purnell.

Purnell yelled back at them, “How dare you?” and as he rode past them, one of them men hit him on the head, knocking him from his bike. He swung his bike lock at them. Meanwhile, one of the men hit Castellon in the face. The pair and two women, who had witnessed the attack, then got in a black Porsche Cayenne, an SUV.

Purnell threw his bike lock at the car in an attempt to stop them, but they drove away.

The violence shocked Purnell, a longtime Oakland resident.

“[The attackers] were so arrogant,” he said, “They were saying I was in the wrong club. I’ve been going to that club since I was 22…Nothing bad has happened to me here. Especially not like that.”

Purnell described the two men as black, with dreadlocks and what seemed like Caribbean accents. He said they both appeared between 26-32. The women were dark skinned, and he thought one might have have had an Ethiopian accent. 

The pair called the cops and when the police arrived on the scene, Purnell said they were helpful and he filed a report with the car's license plate number, but that when he tried to call for an update today he was frustrated when he couldn’t reach anyone.

"I was on the phone for 15 minutes before it routed me to an answering service. Why can't I just talk to a real person?" He said.

Brontez, who was featured in a portrait series for San Francisco Pride by The Bay Citizen in June, has lived in Oakland for nine years after moving from Alabama. He said the Paradiso has always been a place where gay people were welcome (it used to be a GLBT bar called Cabel's Reef), but that over the years it had attracted a more mixed crowd. He thinks that the men specifically targeted them because they perceived them as a gay couple.

Purnell identifies as gay, but his bandmate is straight.

The musician spent the night at the hospital with Castellon, who he says suffered facial fractures and will require titanium plates.

The Bay Citizen has contacted the Oakland police and will update when more information is available.