TORONTO - It's the immense outpouring of support for a gay man who was beaten in what friends describe as a hate crime in Thunder Bay, Ont., that reveals the true spirit of that community, not the attack itself, say friends and local politicians.

John (Jake) Raynard, 30, who was born in Thunder Bay but grew up in Toronto, was attacked by a group of men last month while out with friends.

He managed to help his friends escape into a cab but was then beaten, allegedly with a brick, and had to undergo facial reconstruction, which included steel plates and screws.

The vicious beating has horrified the community, which has rallied around Raynard and used his case to shine a light on problems of violence in the city.

"The most compelling part of the bad story that it was the support that Jake received and the fact that they all wanted him to know that that didn't represent Thunder Bay," said Ontario's Minister of Northern Development and Mines Michael Gravelle, who represents the riding of Thunder Bay and knows Raynard and his sister.

"What represented Thunder Bay was the outpouring of support, the rally of support for him."

Raynard's friends set up a Facebook page called "Unified Community around Jake Raynard," a group that listed more than 8,500 members. They also organized a rally, which is estimated to have drawn more than 1,300 people.

Juan Anderson, who set up the group and has known Raynard for 15 years, said the group has faced some complaints about highlighting the possibility of hate crimes in the city, but said that for the most part, the response has been positive.

"There's been a very small amount of criticism that we're making the city look bad by raising the attention of this issue, but that argument is completely ridiculous," he said.

"The incident itself was already gaining a lot of press and we're very proud that we've been able to form a community response and to be quite honest, a community response that's been larger than you see in a lot of other larger cities."

Anderson couldn't discuss the specifics about why he thinks the attack was a hate crime while the investigation is ongoing.

But he said that from what he heard of the attack, "it deserves very serious consideration."

"There's definitely reason to believe that there's a motivation based on sexual orientation," he said.

"Since this has happened we've heard from some other people who have started coming forward with their story about being targeted in the same area."

Some supporters have expressed frustration with the how long the investigation has taken, and worried whether there would be delays in labelling the attack a hate crime for fear it could make the community look bad.

"Why has there not been any media release on the website of the Thunder Bay Police in regards to this incident? It has been a long enough period of time I would think," said one posting.

But Anderson said Raynard is in constant contact with police and satisfied with the investigation so far.

"It's a bit of a complex case so I think there's a lot more review of the evidence that needs to happen before they press charges," said Anderson.

"He also has this desire, and the larger community has this desire, to start addressing some of the issues: root causes of violence and the issue of safety on the streets as well."

Thunder Bay police spokesman Chris Adams would only say the investigation was ongoing and wouldn't comment on whether the beating was being treated as a hate crime until the probe concluded.

He dismissed any criticism of the handling of the investigation, saying the police base their work only on the facts.

"Our interest is not in protecting images as much as it is in getting it right," he said.

NDP critic Cheri DiNovo said she hoped the police wouldn't shy away from labelling the attack a hate crime if evidence shows Raynard's sexual orientation was behind the attack.

"It should be a badge of honour that people make sure that hate crimes are not happening in their communities, not a badge of shame," she said.

"We've really got to get over that stigma and people really have to own up and say homophobia is everywhere, there's no community that is free from homophobia, Toronto's not free from homophobia, Thunder Bay's not free from homophobia, nowhere is free from homophobia."