Gay Ohioan Dies After Bar Fight

A gay man has died of injuries he suffered during a bar fight in Toledo, Ohio, December 13.

Marland Woods, 33, of Findlay, died December 19 at a Toledo hospital of head injuries. He was hurt in a fight at gay club Caesar's Showbar that involved multiple people and spilled from the bar into the street, reports The Courier,a Findlay newspaper.

Toledo police don't know how the altercation started, Sgt. Tim Noble told the paper, although Woods's partner, Brian Hunker, said it began when one person bumped another on the dance floor. Noble said police do not believe Woods's death was a hate crime. Norman Corggens, 20, of Toledo, has been arrested on a felonious assault charge in connection with the fight, but no one has been charged with murder, the paper reported.

Woods and Hunker had been together for 10 years. They bought a home in Findlay in 2005 and had a commitment ceremony in September.

Woods worked two jobs and was a "homebody" who seldom went to bars, his sister Shonda Floyd told The Courier. "This was only the second time this year he went to a bar and this happened to him," she said. "He never started any trouble. He died trying to keep someone else from being hurt."