RCMP in British Columbia have arrested a suspect in the alleged attack on a Toronto drag queen.
Toronto Police Service spokesperson Victor Kwong confirmed to Daily Xtra that a man arrested in British Columbia on an unrelated matter is also a suspect in the alleged attack on Ryan Boa on May 13. A charge has not yet been laid and he has yet to be investigated by Toronto Police. They are not releasing any other details.
RCMP staff did not respond to Daily Xtra’s request for comment.
Boa, who performs as BOA, was at Statler’s on Church Street on May 12 when he met a man who he alleges assaulted him in the early hours of May 13. Boa told Daily Xtra on May 13 that the man, who reportedly was there watching several drag queens perform, accompanied him home.
“He kept bugging me for sex,” Boa says. “All I remember is him attacking me and that’s it.”
When Boa woke the next morning, he found he was bloody and bruised. His cell phone, laptop and wallet were missing. Doctors would later tell him that he had a broken nose.
Now almost a month later, Boa is recovering, but has found that he has flashbacks to the night he was attacked. “It’s hard to be in my bedroom,” he says. “He came into my sacred place and he abused me and he attacked me and that’s totally wrong.”
The community rallied around Boa after news of the attack broke, with three separate fundraisers started to help him recover the cost of his stolen goods and medical expenses.
Now Boa wants to give back to the community. He hasn’t chosen a charity yet, but says that he’s planning a fundraiser as a gesture showing how important the support of Toronto’s LGBT community has been to him.
HG Watson can be reached at hg.watson@dailyxtra.com or @hg_watson on Twitter.
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