Village People Singer Denies “Y.M.C.A.” Is a “Gay Anthem” As He Defends Trump’s Use of Song
Village People Singer Denies “Y.M.C.A.” Is a “Gay Anthem” As He Defends Trump’s Use of Song
Village People's Victor Willis defended Donald Trump's use of "Y.M.C.A." while also denying that the song is a "gay anthem."
why would he do that?
he stands to make “several million dollars” due to Trump’s continued use of the song.
oh, right.
Ha. That implies that Trump would ever pay him anything.
Surely, Trump won’t stiff me with the bill.
He didn't even pay his lawyers, and he actually needs those.
I cried all the way to the bank
Liberace after winning a libel suit against a news paper calling him a homosexual
He's saying anything for a dollar. I can almost respect his dedication.
Selling out. It's the American way.
TIL that Victor Willis of The Village People is a fascist.
You'll come to find many people you would have never suspected are OK with fascism, when it makes them rich.
He did dress as a cop. The clues were there.
TIL he's still alive.
My step-son was 11 and constantly singing YMCA.
"Look, I don't want to freak you out, but in case you get made fun of at school, YMCA is a gay anthem. No problem with that, but you should know."
He was horrified, so he started singing "I Will Survive" instead. I just didn't have the heart to tell him.
The oracle has spoken
My brother and I both became obsessed with I Will Survive around the age of 10/11. He's a full decade older than me, and our parents still don't understand why that happened with either of us. He's straight, I'm gay. Gloria Gaynor is just amazing in general, and while we gays have claimed her (and her us), her music could, should, and hopefully will be appreciated by all.
I Am What I Am is just straight up queer, though. No reclaiming that one for straight folk. Gayest song ever, and it's wonderful. Lol.
Microsoft Cinemania had a clip from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert where they sing that song. A shortened version of this clip (because space was a premium on that CD-ROM).
I used to watch all the clips on that software, and that was my introduction to the song. Didn’t know anything about the movie, just that scene. But I loved the song.
I didn’t realize until literally today, trying to find that clip, that the movie is about drag queens. 🤣
(Mostly) straight guy here. You're right about Gloria, she's a hell of a fine singer. Some people are just oblivious about the meaning of songs. I had a college roommate who was ignorantly, aggressively straight. His favorite song? All the Young Dudes. And as far as I could discern, he wasn't a closet case. Just dimwitted.
Maybe he's singing the Cake version.
He just needs to embrace them. I'm a straight dude, I love gay anthems. I made $20 one time by singing I Will Survive for karaoke at a crowded bowling alley, in front of my wife's entire company. Whatever, can't embarrass me. I love that song. Didn't even need the karaoke screen.
Joke's on them, I would have sang it for free. Any or all that I know. Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper (I just saw her a couple months ago), The Weather Girls (I have an It's Raining Men 12" single) and I will belt them all out with my own terrible choreography.
Well done singing that in public. I would have been afraid at first, then petrified
Wait - I sing "I Will Survive" for karaoke, what's the deal with that? Does everyone now think I'm gay? Because they would be wrong, I'm actually bi.
fast forward 10 years, he sits down to "tell you something important" and then is shocked when you already knew 😆
Good that you're open-minded, he'll probably need some support later in his life when he comes out.
The more I read the funnier it gets
As for the idea that “Y.M.C.A. is “somehow a gay anthem,” Willis said that “is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay
“This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not.
...
I therefore wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms. And when I say, “hang out with all the boys” that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that.
“As a straight member of a gay band, I totally didn’t get the point of the gay song I wrote for my gay band”
I'm not gay I just like hanging out with the boys
"As a now-identifying-as-straight member..."
I hate him saying "get your mind out of the gutter" as if even thinking about people who are gay is itself a perverted sexual act.
Gay people exist. Acknowledging this and discussing whether a piece of media is directed at them is not "mind in gutter" stuff.
I don't want to go so far as to say this person is homophobic, but it sure does sound like some internalized homophobia, perhaps.
I can reluctantly believe that is true (despite the laughable first paragraph where he gives example after example about why such "assumptions" are reasonable) - but he's old enough to know that once an artist puts art out into the world, their interpretation of it is no longer the only one.
The song IS a gay anthem even if it wasn't written that way.
edit - they the
There could be some plausible deniability but contextually it doesn't pass the sniff test
Offering young men ways to have a good time when they're short on their dough sure as hell doesn't sound straight.
And we're SURE this isn't The Onion? How sure?
I mean, the title and situation is a lot more straightforward than the nuance behind his reasoning and the history of the band.
Not the Onion? Amazing.
Its not "a" gay anthem.
Its the gay anthem. FTFY.
"I Will Survive"?
Dancing Queen by Abba: "Fuck my drag, right?"
Samwell - What What
Okay, that's just the gay anthem according to south park. :D
There's also Freedom, which I really like
Jonny McGovern - Soccer Practice
Lol like Trump is actually going to pay you for using the song, it really is rubes all the way down
WOW! Not much in the news has shocked and surprised me as much as this article has.
Victor Willis says he will take legal action against any news organization that suggest "Y.M.C.A." is a gay anthem beginning in January 2025
I'm really curious to know what legal action he intends to take. Doesn't he have to show some sort of damages for any hope of not throwing his money away on frivolous lawsuits that will go nowhere?
He does, but it can also be things like reputation damage or "the fascists stopped paying for my song because they thought it was gay".
Who the hell does he think he was making money from before? If not for the LGBTQ+ community, that song would just be some old 70s song. Welp, pulling it from my playlist.
Brilliant. Marvellous, even.
I mean, Liberace sued for libel and won after a news outlet accused of him of being gay:
He says that, but he seems to really aggressively be sucking Trumps cock here.
While it’s definitely a fairly gay video, it’s actually less gay than I remembered it being. In any case, it’s too late. Boykissers have long since claimed the song.
The thing is, you're looking at it from 2024 eyes. 46 years ago, it was very definitely a gay video, especially when you throw in things that have been forgotten like the 1970's gay mustache. It wasn't really until Magnum PI that straight men reclaimed the mustache.
I should have mentioned, I tried to avoid conflating the costumes of the non-homophobic members with the message of the song, and it still seemed fairly gay. Particularly when they stood in front of a building with “ramrod” emblazoned across its front and sides.
As a boykisser, I can assure you that we’re rejecting it at high speed.
The segment from Can’t Stop The Music should also be submitted for evidence.
Yeah, that's gay as fuck, especially for the late 70's / early 80's.
Oh, honey. No.
He should have called the song "Y.M.C.A. (no homo)"
🎶 IN THE NAVY 🎶 (no-homo)
It's not a gay anthem, it's only coincidence that it's played in nearly every gay pub I have been to, on every gay radio station, every gay pride event (with performers), and when my first boyfriend sucked my dick. People just like picking straws, man.
Idk seems kinda gay to me 🤷
I really thought all the Village People members were gay. Today I Learned:
“From 1978 until 1982, Willis was married to Phylicia Ayers-Allen (now Phylicia Rashad), whom he met during the run of The Wiz, and who later played Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show”
Beard?
Way to destroy your legacy!
Sadly, a legacy doesn't pay the bills.
That tRump dance move is totally not gay either
Lmao what is the source of that gif
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Young Men's Christian Association?
Yes. If you weren't aware, the YMCA was a very common meeting/cruising place for gay men back in the day. The YMCA used to be known for providing cheap food and housing, so it attracted a lot of dudes to come stay there and some of them were gay. Gay bars weren't really a thing for the most part, so other places like the YMCA became the default. It's even more convenient if you already happen to live there.
As early as 1919, the YMCA was already a common cruising spot for both members of the US military and civilians. Some guy went up to FDR (Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time) and was like "Want me to catch some of the gay dudes in the Navy?" When FDR approved, the Navy sent undercover twinks to the YMCA in Newport, Rhode Island to fuck a bunch dudes and report back like, "Yep, they were gay. I know because we fucked." Pretty shitty, since the result was a court-martial and some people ended up getting sent to naval prison or dishonorably discharged (a few were found not guilty). The investigators rarely expressed any objection to the sexual acts in their reports, either, so it's a little messed up that they'd get dudes in trouble for fucking by fucking them. I can still find an element of humor, though, in the fact that the US Navy was cool with sending specifically young, good-looking dudes to honeypot sailors into boning as a means of investigation all the way back in 1919. It was known as the Newport sex scandal if you want to read more.
That's hilarious
He's using every brain cell he has to not find out a gay anthem isn't a gay anthem because the entire writing staff is entirely gay and wrote the song for gay men explicitly, but because gay people use it as an anthem.
This is sad. This makes me sad.
Totally not gay. Not gay at all.
Welp, now we know cultural anthems are one more thing people with MAGA brain rot don't understand.
Friendship with Village People's YMCA is over. Chappell Roan's Hot to Go is my new best friend.
I mean, Trump hate aside, I personally never thought of the song as gay. It has certainly such a wide appeal that it can be thought of as just a party song, surpassing whatever context may have provided inspiration for it. But reading the statement, I have to say that was a lot of words just to say it isn’t gay lol. And saying my wife will sue you for claiming something I wrote was gay sounds even sillier and like he’s trying to compensate for something.
Plausible deniability went out the window for me after I learned the album is called Cruisin'
Who doesn't like going out on a boat?
Iconic EDM group Kernkraft 400 has denied their hit single Zombie Nation is a sporting anthem. "It's not played at sporting events. It just isn't."
News from a fever dream.