Following the recent apparent hate crime and murder of O’Shae Sibley, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, targeted as he was vogue dancing outside a Brooklyn gas station, we asked readers their thoughts on our tolerance of others as a society.

 

“Oh yes, at the gas station, I believe. Okay well, personally, everybody should live their own lives the way they like. We shouldn’t judge anybody on how they live their lives, because each person has the right to do what they please. Who are we to judge people? Respect who they are. This is part of society; it’s part of the norm now. Life goes on. I’m going to be honest. I’ve got a gay daughter and she lives her life, and I love my grandkids and everything else and I love her. She’s not hurting anybody. She’s living her life, and just trying to fit into the norm, and that’s all there is to it.”

Roger Thomason,

Clason Point

“No, no, no. It’s not about tolerance for gays; let’s be clear. All I’m saying is if somebody is gay, and he’s doing his gay thing, it has nothing to do with anybody. That’s their business, that’s their right. At the same time, there are people that are not in the same lifestyle. They’re also themselves. We are all different people. So, if somebody is gay, [they’re] gay. If somebody’s not gay, they’re not gay. What I don’t like is the killing aspect of it because we’re all human beings; we’re all one people. That’s respect, and at the same time, there shouldn’t be any killing. If they’re gay, it’s their personal choice. It has nothing to do with anybody. It has nothing to do with me because I chose to live the lifestyle of being religious. The fact that I don’t like gay, or I’m not part of it doesn’t mean that I hate them. So, killing is wrong.”

Evangelist Dr. Charles N. Mensah,

Philadelphia, PA., visiting Jerome Park

 

“I don’t really have a problem with that. I don’t know why people are hating on gay people. If that person is gay, you can’t judge other people for what they do. If that person is gay, just leave them alone. That’s how I look at things in life. The reason why people get angry is because they’ve got a lot of hate in their blood. You’ve got to let people be; let them live their life. If a person is gay, I don’t care what you do. Keep it to yourself; that’s it. People like to judge people for what they do. I don’t have a problem with gay people. Even lesbians, I don’t have a problem with it.”

Raven Chestnut,

Norwood

“Yes, yes, he was killed because he was dancing; that’s stupid. Personally, I think social media is the blame for everything. There’s too much social media claiming they’re giving this away, giving that away; it’s all [expletive]. Yes, it’s the cause of everything. The government can’t crack down because people will cry ‘freedom of speech.’ That’s the problem. So, the government can’t do much about it, of course. It’s a dilemma.”

Dana Macri,

Kingsbridge Heights

“I think it’s just the lack of acceptance in some communities still. I think it has to do with some communities having those macho standards still. It’s 2023 and homophobia, I really don’t understand it, myself. Also, as a gay man, I still hear the comments so, personally, I’m still baffled. I think it’s a personal macho thing and it really still puzzles me. I really don’t get it. Is there a solution? I mean I can’t say it’s a lack of education. If social media is the problem, then what is the solution? There’s not going to be a tolerance app. You can’t force them; that’s a really good question.”

Adam Garcia,

Norwood

 

I'm in Midwood for a major public safety announcement. Tune in:https://t.co/88u3kOfroA

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) August 5, 2023

Editor’s Note: New York City Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference on Aug. 5 at the Brooklyn gas station where Sibley was killed, the day after a rally had been held at the same gas station in his memory. On the evening of the rally, Norwood News spoke to one young member of the LGBTQ+ community, Derrick Devonn, who lives in Harlem, and asked him why it was important for him to attend the event.

 

“I came here because it’s so relatable, as an unprotected part of the population, that these tragedies occur,” he said. “I used to live here around Avenue J, and I’m privileged because instead of being murdered, I was able to sue the people that were harassing me, that were threatening me, that were treating me differently, just because of who I possibly could love or how I appear to them.”

 

Devonn continued, “And so I’m here because even though it’s difficult, there needs to be representation. [There] needs to be a statement made that this cannot continue, and that we are human beings above all else.” Asked if a lot of the people, to his knowledge, had traveled from further afield than Brooklyn for the event, he said, “Yeah, I think a lot of people are here. I think everyone’s here, everyone. The message was put out by Beyoncé’s dancers, and a lot of other people in the community, notable people, so I think everyone got the message and felt the call to action to come out.”

 

Asked what he would like to see happen in terms of a response [other than bringing the perpetrator to justice], Devonn said, “I dream of a world….. you know I came to New York because Virginia was so homophobic that I thought I would be killed there. So what I want to see is a world that is less homophobic, that’s more open to understanding all the facets of humanity, and I want to see New York become the haven that I dreamed it could be, and every other place too.”