O’Shae Sibley, 28, was vogueing when he was confronted by individuals who used homophobic slurs and ordered him to stop. A task force on hate crimes is looking into it.
O’Shae Sibley was at a Brooklyn service station with companions late Saturday night, topping off a vehicle and shooting music by Beyoncé when a gathering of men drew closer and advised them to quit moving, as per companions.
According to his friends and a video of the altercation, Mr. O’Shae Sibley, a gay man who was a professional dancer and choreographer, confronted the men after they began using slurs. The police say that one man stabbed Mr. O’Shae Sibleyafter the argument got out of hand.
Before Mr. O’Shae Sibley was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, one of his closest friends, Otis Pena, applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.
In a Facebook video that he posted hours after the murder on Midwood’s Coney Island Avenue, Mr. Pena stated, “They murdered him because he was gay, and because he stood up for his friends.” His name was O’Shae and all of you killed him. All of you killed him directly before me.”
No captures had been made by Monday, yet the police said that the disdain wrongdoings unit was associated with the examination.
The killing has shaken the city’s gay community and devastated Mr. O’Shae Sibley’s family—he is one of 11 siblings. While the intention stays being scrutinized, the assault was a sign of the inclinations that L.G.B.T.Q. individuals face.
The Counter Slander Association and the backing bunch GLAAD gave a report in June demonstrating an expansion in provocation and viciousness against gay and transsexual individuals, including web based tormenting, social events of outfitted dissidents outside drag shows and bomb dangers against emergency clinics that give orientation change care. In the initial three weeks of June there were 101 such occurrences, over two times the number during a similar time span the prior year.
Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a gay state representative in New York, said he was “sorrowful and irritated” over Mr. O’Shae Sibley’s killing.
“Gay delight isn’t wrongdoing,” he said on Twitter. ” Attacks motivated by hate are.
Tondra O’Shae Sibley, a 49-year-old aunt, stated that Mr. O’Shae Sibley had relocated from Philadelphia prior to the pandemic in the hope that New York would provide additional opportunities and auditions.
“It was a silly wrongdoing,” she said. ” O’Shae has forever been a peacemaker. All he needed to do was dance.”
To Missy Elliott, she recalled him as a young boy “gyrating and jerking.” At the point when he aged, he improved his abilities at the Philadelphia Dance Organization and, on the guidance of teachers, started expressive dance, exploiting his long, athletic casing.
Kemar Gem, a 31-year-old choreographer and chief, met Mr. O’Shae Sibley in Philadelphia a long time back at the Storage room Youth Center, where gay teens could go for after-school projects and exercises.
They were a couple of years separated, however Mr. O’Shae Sibley considered him to be a guide. ” He was like, ‘You’re my uncle. I will call you uncle,'” Mr. Gem said.
Mr. O’Shae Sibley was serious about his work, despite being silly and fun-loving. He would stay at Mr. Jewel’s apartment until three in the morning to study dance videos, studying everything from vogueing to the modern techniques introduced by American dancers and choreographers Martha Graham and Lester Horton.
O’Shae was so knowledgeable. He was perfect at tap, artful dance, hip-bounce,” Mr. Gem said. ” He learned so well with pictures. I’ve seen him watch somebody accomplish something two times and afterward do what needs to be done.”
Mr. Gem, who is in London dealing with a show, said he was dozing on Sunday morning when Mr. Pena called to let him know what had occurred.
Mr. O’Shae Sibley and his friends had been vogueing at the gas station, dancing to Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” and imitating fashion models in the 1980s. Today, vogueing is an expression of pride and protest.
Mr. Jewel recalled the account of Mr. Pena, who could not be reached for comment, and said that’s when the group of men came up to them and started calling them names.
Both Mr. O’Shae Sibley and Mr. Pena told them, “Quit saying that. Being gay has nothing wrong with it.
Mr. O’Shae Sibley battled with them, and he was wounded as Mr. Pena hurried to mediate, Mr. Gem said.
Mr. O’Shae Sibley’s 51-year-old neighbor, Beckenbaur Hamilton, said he had cautioned the younger man against being so open about his sexuality at the Brownsville building where he lived alone in a studio.
Mr. Hamilton, who is likewise gay, reviewed assaults he had experienced in his 20s while going out to clubs, and said that he has as of late been hearing remarks in the city about “this large number of privileges” gay individuals have.
Mr. Hamilton stated, “O’Shae wasn’t afraid of being who he was.” He would stand up for his friends.
They cherished moving outside and thoroughly enjoyed drawing a group. ” Mr. Hamilton added, “But I’d see how people looked at them.” In the back of my mind, there was a worry.
Mr. Pena said in his video that Mr. O’Shae Sibley was like his brother and that the two of them were “always out and loud.”
Mr. Pena stated, “We as a community don’t deserve this.” We might be gay, yet we exist. Fear will not control our lives. We will not survive in hiding.