Celebrity hair stylist is beaten to a pulp outside a West Hollywood gay nightclub as his family says he was the victim of hate crime

The family and friends of a popular celebrity hairstylist who was brutally attacked outside a gay LA nightclub fear he was targeted in a brutal hate crime because of his race or sexuality.

Alberto Vasquez, 53, was beaten unconscious and left for dead as he left Heart Weho in the Rainbow District of West Hollywood on Friday, April 5, at 8 p.m.

The stylist, who has worked for studios and catwalks in Paris and New York, spent more than a week seriously ill in an intensive care unit, with doctors forced to remove part of his skull to relieve pressure on a swelling in his brain. light up.

His family fears he will never fully recover and that his attacker could target other gay men.

“We think it’s gay bashing,” Sister Gloria Jimenez said. ‘He wasn’t robbed.

His family doesn’t know if he will ever fully recover from the attack that left him unconscious and requiring emergency brain surgery to save his life.

‘He has injuries all over his body and his neck, we don’t know if he will ever be the same again.

‘He’s the type of man who wouldn’t hurt anyone, we’re sure. I mean, he’s harmless and it’s horrible to almost leave him for dead.”

Vasquez left the nightclub to meet friends at the nearby Gym Bar but never arrived.

He was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center early Saturday morning after a passerby saw him unconscious and bleeding in a car lot next to the nightclub.

But it took five days for his family to track him down when a nurse at the hospital answered a call on his mobile phone.

“You can tell from the punch to his face that it was on his eye,” Jimenez told KTLA.

“They broke his skull around his eye socket.”

West Hollywood, which was incorporated as a city in 1984, claims on its website that more than 40 percent of residents identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.

‘For over three decades West Hollywood has been one of the most influential small towns in the country; no other city of this size has had a greater impact on the national progressive public policy agenda.”

“He’s the type of guy who wouldn’t hurt anyone, we’re sure,” said his sister Gloria Jimenez, “I mean, he’s harmless and it’s horrible to almost leave him for dead.”

The popular stylist has worked for catwalks and salons across the country and abroad

“We need to find out who did this to our wonderful friend, brother and uncle,” wrote friend and colleague Michelle Hansen (photo)

Vasquez introduced herself with Emmy Award-winning actress Elisabeth Moss on Instagram

“We are relieved that he is expected to survive, but he will require multiple surgeries, may have brain damage and has a long road to recovery,” his GoFundMe appeal says.

‘We think it’s gay bashing,’ said Sister Gloria Jimenez (photo), ‘He wasn’t robbed’

Vasquez, who counts Emmy Award winner Elisabeth Moss among his friends, has a GoFundMe an appeal set up in his name that has already raised $47,000 of its $50,000 target.

“We do not know if he was randomly attacked by a stranger in what may have been a homophobic or racist hate crime, or if he was attacked by someone he interacted with at one of the bars,” administrator Brett Foreman wrote.

‘Alberto was taken to a hospital by ambulance on Saturday morning and has spent the past week in critical condition.

‘We are relieved that he is expected to survive, but he will require multiple surgeries, may have brain damage and has a long road to recovery.

“While we await further details on his recovery schedule from the medical staff, we are beginning to raise funds that will be used to cover medical and living expenses as he will be unable to work for the foreseeable future.”

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation but has not yet identified any suspects.

Michelle Hansen, the salon director of Pony Studios in Oakland, where Alberto had worked, said the attacker must be caught before he finds another victim.

“We need to find out who did this to our wonderful friend, brother and uncle,” she wrote.