WTOP radio reported that the young man was attacked after leaving a nightclub early Sunday morning.

Police said the attacker used a derogatory term describing homosexuals before beating the man and sending him to the hospital, where he was treated and released.

"This has got to be a city where intolerance is not tolerated," said Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty of the attack. "You never want to think, especially in the nation's capital, that somebody could be targeted for a crime based on their sexual preference, their race, their age, anything."