O’Shae Sibley’s Tragic Murder and Anti-Queer Hate Crimes
By Mya Tran
July 29th, 2023, found a group of friends on their way back from a beach day, stopped at a Brooklyn gas station in the Midwood section. They were blasting Beyoncé, dancing, having fun, and not caring what people thought of them. One of them was the 28 year old O’Shae Sibley, a choreographer and dancer. Sibely was from Philadelphia, but moved to New York City to chase his dreams of dancing professionally. Sibley had been pursuing his passion of dance for over 15 years. He was in the process of preparing for auditions for the Broadway musical, The Lion King. Auditions that he never got to see.
While Sibley and his friends were dancing, a group of young men pulled up next to them and began to shout anti-Black and homophobic slurs. Sibley and his friends retaliated and soon a fight broke out. A witness at the gas station noticed one of the men from the truck had a knife, but it was too late. O’Shae Sibley had already been fatally stabbed. He was rushed to a hospital, and then pronounced dead.
Stories like Sibley’s are tragic and unfortunate realities for many. Many of us in the LGBTQ+ community have faced sudden hate or violence and thought to ourselves, “Where did that come from? I wasn’t doing anything wrong”. We learn how to mask ourselves, how to wear clothes we don’t enjoy so that we might be able to have a safer bus ride than the day before. We learn where it’s okay to wear pride pins, to have dyed hair and large makeup, and where we have to make ourselves dull and quiet, just so we can survive. These unfortunate “random” acts of violence leave some of us emotionally wounded and many more physically harmed. In 2023 alone, there have been hundreds of reported anti-LQBTQ+ hate crimes. Activist group the Human Rights Campaign lists names such was Camdyn Rider, Jacob Williamson, and Banko Brown as just a few of the many who were fatal victims to anti-LGBT violence and crimes this year.
As of August tenth, 17 year old Dmitriy Popov has pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder and hate-crime against O’Shae Sibley. Popov will be tried as an adult. A second-degree murder charge, or murder with malicious intent without premeditation, comes with a minimum of 15 years of imprisonment. The added hate-crime charge could raise this minimum to 20 years of imprisonment. Popov also faces a maximum charge of 25 years to life. New York Mayor Eric Adams went on record with the New York Times to discuss how this was a hate crime against the LGBTQ+ community, and how it will be taken seriously. Popov is set to face the Brooklyn Supreme Court with his lawyer claiming self-defense.
While it is reassuring to see hate crimes being taken seriously, it is deeply upsetting that it took a 17 year old murdering a young man to get that serious attention. The LGBTQ+ community faces challenges like this everyday, and those challenges should be confronted everyday. Yes, it’s depressing, yes, it’s exhausting. But it is important that we speak about tragedy. If we do not mourn the pain the members of our community must go through, who will? If we do not speak about the violence we go through, who will? If we do not talk about O’Shae Sibley, who will? We must remember his name, his story, and our history. We must stay vigilant, protect each other, and work every day to erase hate. Stay safe, stay strong.
Rest in power, O’Shae Sibley.
About the Author:
Mya Tran is an incoming junior at Butler University, in Indianapolis, IN. They are currently studying English on the creative writing track and German. Growing up in a small college town with limited queer role models, Tran has spent her life with her nose in the books, looking for someone to relate to.
