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Beyoncé paid tribute to a gay man stabbed to death while dancing to his music at a New York City gas station over the weekend, a crime that highlights the ongoing violence facing the LGBTQ+ community.O’Shae Sibley, 28 , worked professionally as a dancer in New York and Philadelphia, and belonged to various dance groups in the region. He was vogueing and dancing to Beyoncé’s music on Saturday night when a group of men approached him and, according to witnesses, told him to stop. The teenager wanted in connection with the shocking death remains at large, all while his friends try to piece together how they lost the man in a tragic stabbing at a Brooklyn gas station.
NEW YORK — Beyoncé paid tribute to a gay man stabbed to death while dancing to his music at a New York City gas station over the weekend, a crime that highlights the ongoing violence facing the LGBTQ+ community.
“REST IN POWER O’SHAE SIBLEY,” the singer’s website read.
O’Shae Sibley, 28, was a professional dancer in New York and Philadelphia, and was a member of various dance groups in the region. She was vogueing and dancing to Beyoncé’s music on Saturday night when a group of men approached her and, according to witnesses, told her to stop.
Home screen of the Beyoncé website. The singer’s website paid tribute to O’Shae Sibley, a dancer stabbed to death while dancing to his music at a New York City gas station over the weekend.
The teenager wanted in connection with the shocking death remains on the run, all while his friends try to piece together how they lost the man in a tragic stabbing at a Brooklyn gas station.
Witnesses have said that the group did not like that Sibley and his friends were dancing and began making derogatory comments about his homosexuality.
Police later said a 17-year-old in a black shirt and red shorts pulled out a knife and stabbed Sibley in the chest. Police say the murder is being investigated as a possible hate crime.
“He had a problem with them dancing, he wanted them to stop dancing, he started arguing with them. And then after some fighting and arguing back and forth, he pulled out a knife and stabbed him,” witness Sayeda Haider said.
In a heartbreaking video posted on Facebook, Otis Peña recounts the final moments of his friend’s life.
“They killed him right in front of me,” Peña said. “I see him staggering and I had to run to him and hold his wound as blood dripped onto my hands, like blood on my clothes.”
“The death of this young man is horrific and really shows the status of being an LGBTQ person in America today,” said Tony Morrison, GLAAD’s senior director of communications.
Morrison said the murder underscores a rise in violence against members of the LGBTQ community across the country.
“We’ve seen bullying, vandalism, and now it manifests itself in physical harm, in this case, death,” Morrison said.
Her friends remember Sibley as a talented professional dancer. She danced with Ailey Extension, which released a statement calling Sibley an “appreciated and devoted participant” of her classes, bringing “incredible energy.”
“O’Shae was a beloved and devoted participant in our Ailey Extension dance class program. He had incredible energy in the studio and was held in high regard by instructors and peers.”
Police sources have identified the suspect as a teenager who is still a fugitive.
There will be a memorial service for Sibley at the LGBT Community Center in the West Village on Saturday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
2023-08-03 00:56:22
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