WASHINGTON -- A hate crime investigation is under way in the District after a man left a gay-friendly bar in the District and was beaten by a group of young men, authorities said.

It was the third time this month that someone has been attacked based on their sexual orientation. News4's Michael Flynn reported that while the victim of this latest attack was beaten, his attackers used anti-gay slurs.

The victim left a gay-friendly bar on Ninth Street near the Convention Center in Northwest at about 1 a.m. Saturday. Police said that about a block away from the bar, three young men approached the man on bicycles and assaulted him.

Police said the victim was hit in the back of the head with something. He suffered cuts and bruises. He was treated and released from a local hospital.

"He suffered injuries to the back of his head, as well as to his face," friend Joe Solmonese said.

He works with the victim at the Human Rights Campaign.

"He went to the emergency room Saturday night," he said. "He was taken by ambulance. He had some stitches in the back of his head. He's bruised in his face. He was given an MRI, checked out internally. He's back at home and recovering now."

After the attack, the victim went back to the bar, where employees called 911.

"To have this happen to a patron here, which is obviously a gay bar, on the heels of what happened just a few blocks away very recently, it really heightens that concern," said Jim Graham, an openly gay member of the D.C. Council.

Saturday's attack was the latest in a string of recent hate crimes.

On Sept. 9 a man was attacked in Georgetown by a group of men yelling homophobic slurs.

Four days later in Chinatown, a transgender victim was assaulted and pushed though a window.

The victim in the latest crime is in his 20s and is a temporary employee with the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that fights for the rights of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said it is a case the city takes seriously.

"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," Fenty said. "That's why we're going to take it extremely seriously, investigate it and prosecute it as soon as we can bring somebody into custody."

Although similar in nature, police said Saturday's attack was not connected to the others.

"We're not concerned that there's any type of a series of crimes that are connected," D.C. police Sgt. Brett Parsons said. "There's no reason to connect them other than the fact that it's very disheartening that these types of crimes occur."

With a clear police presence, officers and neighbors said the area is still safe. They said the attack was an isolated incident but that it remains part of a troubling trend of hate crimes.

"I don't think I'd change how I walk around just because of this," resident Matthew Hallahan said.

D.C. police said they arrested three juveniles for an attempted robbery a few blocks from where Saturday's attack occurred. Police said they are looking into the possibility that the juveniles may have been responsible for the most recent hate crime.