Boy George shares unexpected way he came out as gay to his parents

Boy George has revealed the unlikely way he came out as gay to his parents – not through words, but via his interior design choices.

Before he formed Culture Club in 1981, the singer was a part of the New Romantic movement. He joined a squat in Warren Street in central London to build a new life alongside other creatives, frequenting the same circles as artists like Princess Julia and Leigh Bowery.

Here, Boy George decorated his bedroom with numerous pictures of men, many of which were X-rated, he revealed in his autobiography “Karma.” And, whilst he was out, his parents decided to pay him a visit, leaving him an endearing note which read: “Nice wallpaper. Love you, son.”

“This was the 1970s and there was a sense that I should get on with my gay business over there in the corner and not talk about it,” George wrote elsewhere, noting that this became a formative, emotional moment in his relationship with his parents.

“That was never going to work for me. As a kid I went to Sunday School in one of Mum’s hats.

“One of her friends called and said: “Do you know what he’s wearing?” “I do,” she said, defiantly. When I left the house, Mum would say to Dad: ‘Look at him, Jerry, look what he’s wearing.’

“Dad would lower his newspaper and say: “Up to him if he wants to get beat up.” Being the (gay) middle child in a London Irish family was less of a big deal than you might think, though.”

When Boy George’s father told his two brothers about his sexuality, he “brutally” described him as “funny.”

“My dad announced my “homosexuality” to my brothers, David and Richard, in his Bedford van. Turning down the radio, he said: ‘You know your brother’s a bit funny,’ he wrote elsewhere.

“David chipped in: ‘Funny peculiar or funny ha-ha?’ Richard corrected Dad: ‘You mean he’s [gay].’

“I think Dad turned the radio back up at that point. He could be brutal but he was also charismatic.”

• Dec 06 2023

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