Beyoncé Pays Tribute to Gay Man Murdered for Dancing to her Music

Superstar pop icon Beyoncé posted a tribute to O'Shae Sibley, a professional dancer whose moves to her music drew the attention of a homophobic assailant.

"REST IN POWER O'SHAE SIBLEY," the recording artist wrote in a message on her official site, People Magazine reported. The words appear in white against a black background.

As previously reported at EDGE, Sibley was stabbed to death July 29 at a gas station in Brooklyn, New York. He was with a group of friends who had spent the day at the beach. Sibley and some of the others were voguing to Beyoncé's music, still shirtless and wearing their swim trunks, when, as EDGE detailed in the earlier report, they "were approached by a group of men who claimed the flamboyant behavior offended their Muslim faith."

An exchange of words followed, with the group accosting Sibley and his friends hurling "gay slurs," People Mag detailed. Security video caught much of the altercation, but not the moment when Sibley was fatally stabbed. The footage did, however, record Sibley lying wounded on the sidewalk, with his friends trying to stanch the bleeding.

Their efforts to save him were unsuccessful; Sibley was pronounced dead on arrival when he was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, the magazine said.

Beyonce was not alone in speaking out. The Alvin Ailey American Dance Foundation's Ailey Extension, at which Sibley was a student, issued a statement recalling Sibley as "a cherished and devoted" student who "had incredible energy in the studio and was loved by instructors and fellow classmates."

Out New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal tweeted that he was "Heartbroken and enraged to learn about O'Shae Sibley's death," and declared that "gay joy is not crime. Hate-fueled attacks are."

GLAAD, linking the deadly attack to the "disturbing rise in [anti-LGBTQ+] violence and harassment," called out homophobic political rhetoric and news sources that have failed to challenge it, People Mag noted.

Law enforcement is now searching for a 17-year-old suspect in the slaying, with the NYPD assuring the public that Sibley's killing "is being investigated as a possible biased incident."

Sibley "had moved to NYC from Philadelphia three years ago with hopes of becoming a professional dancer," the earlier EDGE report said. "In Philly, he was a member of Philadanco, a company known for celebrating and preserving African-American dance traditions. In New York he joined an all-queer dance crew organized by choreographer Kemar Jewel for a 2020 project called 'Vogue 4 #BlackLivesMatter.'"