feature image via Sage O. Dumure Versailles/Facebook
Rest in power O’Shae Sibley.
Queer as in F*ck You
O’Shae Sibley, a Beloved Dancer, Killed After Vogueing at Brooklyn Gas Station. O’Shae Sibley, a 28-year old gay Black dancer, was listening and vogueing to Beyoncé while pumping gas when a group of homophobic men approached and started using slurs and threatening O’Shae and his friend. One of the men stabbed O’Shae, murdering him for daring to live in all his queer Black joy and self-expression. Autostraddle Editor in Chief Carmen Phillips wrote a gutting reflection on O’Shae’s life and the fact that even in an era when vogueing has entered mainstream culture, it still isn’t safe for Black queer folks to be themselves and express joy. O’Shae deserved joy; O’Shae’s deserved to dance.
Black Trans Liberation has organized an emergency action this Friday in the form of a memorial ball at the Mobil gas station in Brooklyn. Details can be found on Instagram:
Beyoncé Honors O’Shae Sibley, Gay Man Killed Voguing to Her Song. Words from O’Shae’s aunt in this piece: “O’Shae has always been a peacemaker. All he wanted to do was dance.”
‘A Utopia Is Possible’: These World-Making Photos Envision a Queer Future.
Authors Like Me Are Fighting the Book-Ban Zealots. We Need Help.
Essay: How One L.A. Club Became a Sanctuary for Queer Latinos.
This Instagram Account Spotlights Lesbian and Queer Fashion.
The Ultimatum’s Mal Wright Can See Your Thirsty DMs. Everybody Calm Down. TBH one of my main takeaways from this profile of Mal Wright from The Ultimatum: Queer Love was: maybe don’t send thirsty DMs to a real person who you don’t actually know! I get thirsting over reality stars (and, I definitely understand the specific appeal of Mal!), but it’s one thing to fangay on the sidelines and another entirely to take it to the DMs. Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, I really do love hearing about Mal’s experiences in their own candid words.
Is Barbie Peak White Feminism? Does It Even Matter? My pal Jourdain wrote this, and it’s super smart!
Saw This, Thought of You
‘No Better Present’: Henrietta Lacks’ Family Celebrates Historic Settlement over Stolen Cells.
Dawnie Walton on American Concert Culture and the Summer of Love or Hate.
Read the First Reviews of Every James Baldwin Novel.
Political Snacks
Atlanta Officials Push to Build Cop City Without a Public Vote.
One More Thing
Yesterday was James Baldwin’s birthday.
All of the media coverage has his first name as O’Shae—please check and update if needed
thank you <3
I haven’t read any of Baldwin’s poetry before this, just his novels, and it looks like I must
highly recommend <3
This approach to covering O’Shae’s murder feels so disrespectful. A mention in a list that also includes an unrelated interview with Renee Rapp? That’s…so strange. And to wait this loss to mention it, only to initially misspell his name. I can’t help but feel this would be different if O’Shae wasn’t Black—a la Matthew Shepard. I don’t know, it’s just disappointing in a sea of disappointment at the queer community’s response toward this devastating tragedy.