BOY GEORGE - SCISSOR SISTERS VICTIMS OF HOMOPHOBIC US, SAYS GEORGE

Veteran pop star BOY GEORGE claims the SCISSOR SISTERS' failure to attract a huge following in the band's native America is down to homophobic record buyers.

The gay KARMA CHAMELEON singer isn't surprised the Scissor Sisters' eponymous debut failed to match its phenomenal European sales in the US - because three of the group's four male members are openly homosexual.

And George lays the blame squarely on what he believes is a climate of homophobia in America - something TV show QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY has only exasperated.

British George, who lives in New York, says, "I think the Scissor Sisters' lack of mainstream success here (in the US) says a lot about America.

"You hear them everywhere in New York - every bar, every cafe, all the trendy places.

"But it hasn't crossed over into the mainstream and it's because they're openly gay. So don't tell me that Queer Eye has changed anything, because that's the reality.

"Queer Eye is accommodating the straight world's idea of what's acceptable from homosexuals, whereas somebody actually expressing who they are in their music is not acceptable, and that's really sad."