Anthony Bray, 21, was arrested Friday night and charged with assault in the brutal beating of /*Damian Furtch*/, 26.
Police were initially investigating the beating as a /*hate crime*/.
Sources now say Bray identified himself as gay and says he punched the victim because he was allegedly being disrespected by him.
According to authorities, Damian Furtch was assaulted by two Hispanic men at a McDonald's in the /*West Village*/.
The incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. on March 27th at the northeast corner of West 3rd Street and 6th Avenue.
The suspects were reportedly teasing Furtch because he was wearing a pink work shirt, pink belt and pink shoes.
When Furtch went outside, he was hit and did not fight back. It was all caught on a police surveillance camera.
Damian suffered two black eyes, a broken nose and needed several stitches.
His injuries were so bad, he needed more than 9 hours of surgery.
The victim posted a gruesome photograph of himself on his Facebook page following the brutal beating.
