Beyoncé Pays Tribute to Gay Man Stabbed at Gas Station

Beyoncé honored O’Shae Sibley, the 28-year-old gay man who was fatally stabbed at a gas station last month in Brooklyn, New York, while dancing and voguing to her album Renaissance. The global superstar’s website temporarily read “REST IN POWER O’SHAE SIBLEY,” at the top of the page. Since the killing, New York’s queer community has been both mourning and celebrating O’Shae’s life. The Beyoncé album Renaissance was released a year to date from Sibley’s murder and showcases several incredible Black and queer artists while referencing the queer ballroom culture. Sibley, who was a professional dancer and choreographer, was dancing and vogueing when he was approached by a group of men who told him to stop dancing, witnesses said. They also shared that Sibley tried to de-esculate the situation before he was fatally stabbed in the stomach.

Otis Pena, a friend of Sibley’s who said he witnessed the stabbing, shared a video about the incident to their Facebook on Sunday.

“They murdered him because he’s gay, because he stood up for his friends,” Pena, who described Sibley as “the salt to my pepper,” says in the video. “His name was O’Shae, and you all killed him. You all murdered him right in front of me.” Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a gay, New York state senator, tweeted about the incident, saying he was “heartbroken and enraged” to learn about Sibley’s death. “Despite homophobes’ best efforts, gay joy is not a crime. Hate-fueled attacks are,” the senator tweeted.

Sibley’s murder is not the only recent anti-LGBTQ+ attack that has happened in this country within the last year, or even the last few months. There has been over 600 anti-LGBTQ bills that have been proposed this year alone, and according to the New York Times, over 350 anti-LGBTQ incidents that range from online, verbal and physical harassment within an 11-month period.