Village People Singer Denies "Y.M.C.A." Is a "Gay Anthem" As He Defends Trump's Use of Song (Consequence Sound)

[Wiz Imp]

20. You apparently missed where the gay members of the group said 'YMCA' certainly has a gay origin."

and “Was the song written to celebrate gay men at the YMCA? Yes. Absolutely.”

Add in song titles from their first several albums: “Fire Island” (the East Coast’s gay summer retreat); “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)” (the West coast’s premier gay destination); “Village People” (a look at the inhabitants of New York City’s largely gay Greenwich Village); “Key West” (a gay resort destination), “Just a Gigolo,” “I Am What I Am” (a gay declaration), and “Sodom and Gomorrah”. Also Nineteen year-old Felipe Rose, who was Lakota Sioux/Puerto Rican, presented as the “Indian,” a bespangled, war bonnet and loin cloth-wearing Native American, Only Willis and Rose participated on the “Village People” LP–with Rose indecorously credited as “Felipe ‘Indian From the Anvil’“ (the Anvil was a gay NYC sex club).

In the gay culture from which the image and music of the Village People came, the song was implicitly understood as celebrating YMCA's reputation as a popular cruising and hookup spot, particularly for the younger men to whom it was addressed. The initial goal of Village People producers Morali and Belolo was to attract disco's gay audience by featuring popular gay fantasy in their music. Conversely, Willis had said that he wrote the song in Vancouver, British Columbia and, through his publicist, that he did not write "Y.M.C.A." as a gay anthem, but rather as a reflection of the fun activities that young urban black youth experienced at YMCA, such as basketball and swimming. However, Willis has often acknowledged his fondness for double entendre.

Even Willis didn't try to claim that it was about "a way for a young man to get back on track" as you claim. And notice that thing about his fondness for double entendre? He made the gay subtext more subtle in order to appeal to a wider mainstream audience. But make no mistake, he put that gay subtext in there purposely when he wrote the song because the group was targeting their music at a gay audience.

Deny it all you like, but the song was a gay anthem and celebrated by the gay community from day one.