An original member of US band the Village People has denied that the group’s signature song, “Y.M.C.A.” was intended to be a “gay anthem” despite having been treated as such since its 1978 release, multiple media outlets have reported.
Victor Willis recently made the assertion on Facebook on Tuesday, in a post defending US President-elect Donald Trump’s frequent use of the song in his rallies. Trump is an opponent of LGBT rights, which may be eroded during his forthcoming presidency.
Willis claimed he had received over 1,000 complaints regarding Trump’s usage of “Y.M.C.A.” since 2020. He said this had prompted him to assert that the song’s close association with the LGBT community was “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 life.”
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“Y.M.C.A.” itself pays homage to the eponymous Christian organisation, known as a place where men could pick up men in the 1970s and 1980s. However, the singer said that people should get their “minds out of the gutter” when listening to it. He also described the act of referring to the hit as a gay anthem as “defamatory and damaging.”
Nevertheless, “Y.M.C.A.” has traditionally been viewed as pro LGBT. The US Library of Congress notes its cultural significance to LGBT culture in the National Recording Registry, while conservative radio stations have banned “Y.M.C.A.” for what they see as its subversive messages.
Willis has explained that Trump had obtained a political use licence from BMI, the organisation enforcing music performance rights in the US, to play “Y.M.C.A.” He also noted that he has benefitted financially from having the song perform so well in recent months.
