Even as the bad news came last week that Boy George was being denied a visa by the U.S. State Department, we held out hope that the hard-working men and women of the New York Department of Sanitation would not go unentertained this summer. There was always the appeals process, during which the logic — nay, the patriotic necessity — of letting the former Culture Club singer into the country so he could sing for his thousands upon thousands of fans in the DSNY would be apparent to the Feds. But the bristly mascara brush of justice has come down hard on the Boy George, as the soulless automatons at the State Department have denied his final appeal, forcing him to cancel the trash-related concert event of the summer.

We're not usually that political at Vulture, but in this case we must speak out. This clearly goes all the way to the top, as we can only assume that Condoleezza Rice personally made this decision. What possible rationale could be behind this outrage to deny a visa to a popular entertainer, just because he's recently been arrested for chaining a man to his wall? We imagine that the DSNY is already mobilizing its 2,230 collection trucks for the smelliest march on Washington in recorded history, and we're happy to throw Vulture's nearly unlimited resources behind this protest. The State Department's discriminatory policy is garbage! (We're thinking of trademarking that protest slogan.) Free Boy George! Entertain New York's Strongest!

Visa Appeals Exhausted, Boy George Buries U.S. Tour [E!]

Earlier: Boy George Answers Prayers of NYC’s Sanitation Workers
Boy George Denied U.S. Visa, Won’t Play for Garbage Workers