Gay Man Dies After 'Altercation' at Louisville Bar

A gay man has died after what's described as an "altercation" at a Louisville, Ky., bar last weekend, and his family has hired an attorney for possible legal action.

Christopher McKinney, 35, was being escorted out of the LGBTQ-friendly Nowhere Bar early Sunday morning for what police called "unruly behavior" when he got into a scuffle with a bar employee, The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports. Police arrived about 1:15 a.m. and found him unconscious. He was taken to the University of Louisville Hospital, where he died later in the day of blunt force injuries.

The employee involved in the incident, whose name has not been released, no longer works at Nowhere Bar, management told The Courier-Journal Thursday. The bar operators extended "deepest sympathies" to McKinney's family, the paper notes.

Police said they do not believe the altercation was a hate crime, but they have divulged no other details, and no charges have been filed. They are conducting a homicide investigation, however, according to local TV station WHAS.

McKinney's family has hired Louisville attorney Vincent Johnson, who is looking into whether there was any negligence on the bar's part, WHAS reports. He told the station he will file suit if he finds evidence of that.

McKinney was a brand manager for Ralph Lauren, and he recently received the company's Empowerment Award, according to his obituary. He married Nicholas Clark last October.

"Christopher was kind-hearted, thoughtful, and funny," the obit reads. "He and Nick had the best of friends anyone could ask for and enjoyed being in their company. ... He will be remembered as a loving husband and best friend, son, uncle, nephew and cousin."