When Boy George burst onto the music scene in the 1980s, he was the embodiment of counterculture: Gender-bending, flamboyant, unapologetically different. He challenged convention in ways that seemed almost unimaginable at the time. I loved him.

I knew all the words to all his songs. I watched his music videos, waited for him on the radio, bought his album and listened to him on endless repeat. One Purim, I transformed myself into Boy George: I applied copious amounts of makeup, teased and braided my long black hair, topped it with a hat, and threw on an oversized jacket. My parents would never have let me go to a Culture Club concert, but over 30 years later, I finally got to see him perform (with Cyndi Lauper as the opening act). He was every bit as charismatic as I had hoped. I left that concert still a fan. Today, I couldn’t admire him more.

His new song, We Will Dance Again, is more than a piece of music. It is an act of allyship. At a time when so many public figures in music and entertainment have chosen silence, or worse, have used their platforms to inflame division, Boy George chose something increasingly rare: moral clarity. He chose to speak out. He chose to say publicly, “If you’re ever confused, I stand with the Jews.”........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)