Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Boy George

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:

Boy George

In my big gay church there is a wing dedicated to The Divas Who Represent. They're not all flashy or cocks of the walk - in fact, some never officially came out of the closet during their lifetime - but they are all extraordinarily gifted, sharing their songs, music, and insights, allowing the world at large to learn, in the most subtle of ways, what it's like 'being green'. Thanks to their gifts and their bravery, they help make the world a little more gay every time their voices are heard. And that's been their true super power all along... their voice; they were heard. They mattered. And, whether they liked it or not, they represented!

One such groundbreaking diva?

Our Boy George.

What a rascal.

Oh, the drama with this one.

He appeared on the scene like a vision, a breath of fresh air, delivering pop bon mot after pop bon mot like a parade float dispensing candy to the masses below. A sly one - he broke ceilings and ground without calling attention to it - much - putting it all on display for the world to see and judge without a care.

It was fun. And successful. He and his mates in Culture Club charmed the world. 

And our little diva took himself and his role very seriously - a bit too much so. 

There was no censoring this one.

Things began to fray. A broken heart can become a vengeful force obliterating that it once treasured.

When you're young, you may have no sense of permanence, of history and the big picture. What one creates can have lasting meaning to others, but be tossed aside like yesterday's news by its creator. 

He went solo - and while the musical charm remained - the persona chafed a bit. 

It was a downward spiral for a time. Tabloid fare. A £400-a-day heroin habit.

Then a spiritual awakening of sorts. Celebrity DJ days followed. 

And then he got back to it. 

When you've known such heady heights and been universally adored, owning your own shit can be something which does not come easy. But he did come to own it. He has. 

For those of us who have always loved him, despite himself, we are only too happy that he remains a vital part of this world. 

The music is his legacy - and those looks! He was and remains a living, breathing, walking piece of art.

The gospel according to him?

Well, here are three from the hip, dropping from his lips.

The topic? Being Other And Lessons Learned

"You don't walk like other boys. You don't talk like other boys. But at six, you are not thinking about your sexuality."

"Remember that I was out of the closet at the age of sixteen. My parents knew I was gay; I'd had to tell them."

"At sixteen, I walked around knowing I'd get chased and attacked for dressing a certain way - I felt I had an undeniable right to be who I wanted to be. My father said to hit them back, but I was never much good at that. So I developed a big mouth instead of a quick right hook."

"The more I dressed up, the more people reacted... the more I wanted to do it."

"Part of me looks at the gay movement now and worries that we're losing our individuality."

"The struggle isn't just about being straight or gay or transgender - it's a human struggle. That's always really been my kind of starting point: If you're out there and you're odd, come over to my house."

"I wanted people not to care about whether you were gay, straight, black, white, transgender, whatever it may be... That being said, there's more work to be done... I still want to change the world, absolutely."

"There's no better time than now to be who you are."

"A lot of what I've been learning in the last two years is due to therapy - about my sexuality, why things go wrong, why relationships haven't worked. It isn't anything to do with anybody else; it's to do with me."

"I've realized that, actually, some things are my own business. I don't have to put everything in the public domain."

"I've learned the hard way that some things are private, and I'm probably going to save myself a lot of heartache."

"Had I known that years ago, and not been such a foghorn about it, I probably could have had a healthy relationship with Jon (Moss)."

"You learn over the years that some things are sacred, and that's why I'm glad I have a decent relationship with Jon now, otherwise it would rubbish everything we had."

"All the early songs were about Jon. I literally wrote about our relationship as it happened."

"We do love each other, but it's not like a sexual love or desire love. I care about him and would be really sad if anything happened to him, and I'm glad he's in my life. I wouldn't have said that ten years ago."

"It's not like I ever really got what I needed from Jon. I loved him more than anything in the world, but in hindsight, it was a very dysfunctional relationship."

"We are having this court case (settled out of court) so I thought I would call him as I thought I was really moved by the script (an upcoming bio pic) and I was really moved by the story of how we met and I suddenly thought: You know what, I forgot about all that."

"I forgot about all that really amazing stuff when I met him and you know how much I was in love with him and how it was so beautiful and exciting and all the stuff happened. It got lost in all this kind of bitterness and all this feuding."

"So it was interesting for me to sit with Jon and go: ''Actually mate, I might have to apologize to you for some things."

Keep Me In Mind - Boy George

The Crying Game - Boy George

King Of Everything - Boy George

And one last parting shot...

"Let's face it: I've got a bit of a reputation."

"My life hasn't always been a disaster, it's just that when it has, it's been a spectacular disaster."

"I was unwelcome in the U.S. for four years."

"I went to prison; therefore, I've been rehabilitated, and now I want to get on with my life. I have paid for what I did, end of story."

"I don't want to be a figure of disappointment."

"I've never been a bad person and always had quite good morals. There's always been a side of me that's been quite proper, but it's got distracted here and there. Now I'm the person I should be. My appetite for self-destruction and misery is greatly diminished. I'm not interested in being unhappy."