Boy George thinks gay friend was brutally attacked for not conforming
”It’s hard to say and you don’t want to jump to conclusions, but it must have been something to do with the way he looked… I can’t think of any other reason. Philip is not a bruiser…. In the early 80s there was this sense that things were changing, and becoming more open-minded. But we don’t have that sort of gorgeous youth culture any more, the glam rockers, the New Romantics…. Most gay men go out of their way to look normal and fit in, but Philip is not of that breed…. Just because you see a few more gay people on TV doesn’t mean there is no longer a problem.”
Singer and DJ “Boy George” O’Dowd talking about the brutal beating his friend Philip Sallon, 59, suffered recently in Picadilly Circus. Allegedly, two men kicked him repeatedly, including his face, leaving Sallon with broken bones and a fractured skull. The Guardian reports an increase in anti-gay attacks in the popular West End are of London, but says the city overall has seen a slight decrease in these attacks. Assigning an anti-gay motive to the attack is somewhat speculative, and no surveilance video of the early morning incident has surfaced despite the area being one of the most camera-heavy locations in the UK. (Guardian.co.uk)
O’Dowd was the crossdressing, legendary singer from the 1980s New Wave band, Culture Club, and has had a series of public missteps and criminal convictions for his own nonconforming behavior.
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