“The name filled the intersection, ringing with unity and power, but you could hear the keening of absolute bereavement underneath.” Such was the mourning at the recent vigil for O’Shae Sibley, a Black gay man, who was stabbed to death at a gas station in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn on July 29.
O’Shae—a dancer—and his friends were voguing to Beyoncé’s Renaissance in the parking lot while they filled their car with gas after celebrating a friend’s birthday at the beach. Also at the gas station were a group of young men, who took issue with O’Shae and his friends’ expression of Black queer joy. These men began harassing the dancers, using hateful homophobic and racist slurs. The verbal harassment turned physical, culminating in one of the young men—alleged suspect Dmitriy Popov—stabbing O’Shae, who died from his injuries.
In the coming weeks and months, you can expect to hear more about this horrible killing in the media and in court transcripts. Much will be made about security camera footage, witness statements, and the killer’s identity and state of mind, and how the latter may or may not have influenced his decisions. There will be talk of how the killer allegedly claimed he was Muslim, and that the voguing offended his faith; there will be racist, anti-Muslim rhetoric in response to this claim.
Make no mistake, though: this murder was an act of hate violence against a Black gay man.
As much as New York gets represented in media and culture as a safe place to be openly, proudly queer, there is still deadly violence against queer people, especially queer people of color. There have been at least 45 instances of hate violence against LGBTQ+ people in New York this year.
What can we do to prevent such violence and keep our communities safe? First, we can accept that hate violence can and does happen here. Complacency is dangerous. We can train to intervene to try to de-escalate tense situations when we encounter them. We can reject narratives that portray Muslims as inherently homophobic, and fight back against anti-LGBTQ legislation across the country.
And we can continue to celebrate Black queer people, to make it known that we will always fight against racism and homophobia, and that we keep us safe.
In September, SURJ NYC will be offering a community and action safety training. While this is not specifically a bystander intervention training, it covers de-escalation skills that are useful in a wide range of situations. Sign up for the next two-part training on Saturday, September 23 & Saturday, September 30, 1:00pm-4:30pm.
To give material support to O’Shae Sibley’s family, you can donate to their GoFundMe.
In solidarity,
SURJ NYC