Beyoncé‘s message was simple: “Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley.”
In what police are investigating as a possible hate crime, Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer, was fatally stabbed at a gas station in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Saturday.
While filling up a vehicle, Sibley and his friends recorded footage of the dancer voguing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album for Facebook Live, the New York Times reported. (Voguing is a highly stylized type of dance that originated and evolved out of the Harlem ballroom scene in the 1960s.)
A group of men reportedly approached the dancer and his friends and shouted slurs. They allegedly insisted Sibley stop dancing.
According to the New York Times, Sibley told the men to leave him and his friends alone, and that there is “nothing wrong with being gay.”
There was a brief altercation and Sibley was stabbed in the torso. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival.
As news of Sibley’s death — and subsequent outrage — spread across social media, Beyoncé updated the home page of her website to read “Rest in Power O’Shae Sibley.”
New York police said the department’s hate crimes unit is involved in the ongoing investigation, according to a Rolling Stone report.
No arrests have been made.
On Sunday morning, only hours after Sibley was stabbed, his friend Otis Pena, who recorded the Facebook live, said Sibley was stabbed “right in the heart.”
Through tears, Pena said Sibley was “murdered” because “he was gay; because he stood up for his friends.”
“We may be gay, but we exist,” he continued. “We’re not going to live in fear. We’re not going to live hiding.”
Sibley’s death has struck a chord with queer people around the world.
GLAAD, a non-profit LGBTQ2 advocacy organization, said Sibley’s “shocking murder follows a disturbing rise in violence and harassment against LGBTQ people across the U.S.”
In a statement, GLAAD urged that no one should feel unsafe because of their identity.
“Politicians spewing lies and proposing policies filled with disinformation, and media repeating their false and dangerous rhetoric unchallenged, are creating an incredibly hostile environment that endangers all LGBTQ people and all queer people of color,” GLAAD wrote.
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Signal, who is openly gay, said he was “heartbroken and enraged” over the news.
“Despite homophobes’ best efforts, gay joy is not crime. Hate-fueled attacks are,” he wrote.
A GoFundMe has been created to raise funds for Sibley’s funeral service. The page has already raised over US$34,000 of its original $10,000 goal.
Beyoncé’s Rennaissance album is an upbeat work that celebrates dance music and its origin in the Black queer community. Rennaissance, released in 2022, was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Police say anyone with information about Sibley’s death can call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).