Black queer dancer O’Shae Sibley was fatally stabbed outside of a New York City gas station on July 29 while vogueing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance album, according to The New York Times. Now, Queen Bey is paying tribute to the late dancer on her website.
“Rest in power, O’Shae Sibley,” she wrote in all caps.
Sibley, a professional dancer, was also allegedly subjected to a barrage of homophobic slurs before he was murdered, police told CNN. NYPD is currently investigating his death as a possible hate crime. CNN also reports that law enforcement is searching for a 17-year-old whom they believe to be the one who stabbed the dancer.
Renaissance, Beyoncé’s blockbuster Billboard 200-topping seventh solo studio album, is largely informed by Black queer culture, the ballroom scene and dance music, a genre which owes much of its foundation to the toil of Black LGBTQIA+ artists and creatives. The record won four Grammys and spawned the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits “Break My Soul” (No. 1) and “Cuff It” (No. 6). The album featured a number of queer collaborators ranging from Big Freedia and Syd to Ts Madison and Honey Dijon.
Sibley’s death has garnered much attention. “Heartbroken and enraged to learn about O’Shae Sibley’s death this weekend in New York. Despite homophobes’ best efforts, gay joy is not crime,” wrote New York State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Signal on Twitter (July 31). “Hate-fueled attacks are.”
Both GLAAD and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation’s Ailey Extension, of which Sibley was a student, released statements. GLAAD stressed that Sibley’s death is part of a “disturbing rise in violence and harassment” that “cannot continue,” and Ailey Extension fondly remembered Sibley as “a cherished and devoted student [that] had incredible energy in the studio and was loved by instructors and fellow classmates.”
