Beyoncé has honored a dancer who lost his life in a homophobic attack while voguing to the singer’s liberating “Renaissance” album.
The decorated Grammy winner posted a message on her website sending condolences to O’Shae Sibley, 28, a gay Black man who was fatally stabbed in Brooklyn while voguing, Page Six reports. The form of dance originated by Black queer and trans performers continues to be a signature form of expression for the LGBTQ+ community.
Many have been sharing their own tributes across social media. On Tuesday, August 1, Beyoncé’s website followed suit with a short tribute to Sibley telling the late dancer to “REST IN POWER.”
Rest In Power, O’Shea Sibley
— via Beyoncé’s website#JusticeForOShae pic.twitter.com/Buk46tfqNO
The message follows Sibley’s death on Saturday, July 29 at a Brooklyn gas station. Surveillance footage captured the moment Sibley pulled up to a Mobile gas station with two friends to fill up their car.
That’s when Sibley got out of the car and started voguing to songs from Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album. A group of men standing in front of the convenience store started taunting Sibley with homophobic slurs, prompting the two groups to exchange words.
The commotion died down with the group leaving. But they later returned and things turned physical. Sibley could be seen standing behind a black SUV in shock after being stabbed.
Friends and bystanders rushed to his aid. Cops responded to a 911 call and had him rushed to Maimonides Medical Center where he succumbed to his injuries.
The suspect, who is Muslim, fled the scene. He reportedly told Sibley he was offended by his dancing. Cops are reportedly on the search for a 17-year-old who was seen fighting with Sibley on surveillance.
Sibley’s friend Otis Pena told cops they were targeted because of their sexuality.
“They hated us cause we are gay!” Pena wrote in a Facebook post.
“[They were] screaming we Muslim and we don’t like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and ya’ll decided to stab on one of us!!!”
Pena also alleged he and his friends were “innocently voguing just two blocks from being dropped off at my house pumping gas!!!!”
The case is being investigated as an anti-gay hate crime.
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Source: Black Enterprise
