O’Shae Sibley Was Killed While Voguing at a Brooklyn Gas Station. Last Weekend New Yorkers Rallied to Honor His Memory

The scene could have unfolded anywhere in America. A group of five friends stopped at a gas station in Brooklyn on their way home from a trip to the Jersey Shore, playing the Beyoncé album Renaissance from their car while talking, laughing, and—yes—voguing. These were the circumstances under which dancer and choreographer O’Shae Sibley was killed last month, as a group of men yelled homophobic and anti-Black slurs at him before one of them fatally stabbed Sibley in what is now being charged as a hate crime.

On Friday evening, New Yorkers gathered in force to mourn Sibley’s death and share their grief and outrage with one another. The memorial and rally, which took place at and around the very gas station where Sibley was attacked, encouraged attendees to consider “vogue as an act of resistance.” Neighbors, friends, and members of the New York ballroom scene mingled, danced, wept, and spoke Sibley’s name aloud, refusing to let it be forgotten as the day disappeared into night. “Queer and trans people, and especially Black and brown queer and trans people, exist in a world where hate can cost them their lives,” trans-rights activist and Black Trans Liberation Kitchen founder Qween Jean told Vogue after the event, adding: “[Sibley’s assailant] killed a powerful and monumental figure in this community, but now O’Shae is being immortalized as an icon and we will continue to honor the legacy of dance that they inspired us with. Beyoncé said it herself—‘You cannot break my soul’—and O’Shae’s soul will live on in all of us.”

Below, see all of Ryan McGinley’s photos from the memorial ball.