Victor Willis, co-writer and lead singer of Village People, has threatened legal action against news outlets that label their 1978 hit 'YMCA' as a gay anthem. This controversial stance comes after years of the song being associated with LGBTQ+ culture and its recent resurgence in popularity due to Donald Trump's use of it during his campaign. Willis argues it's a 'false assumption' based on his writing partner's sexuality and the song's lyrics, claiming it's not about 'elicit activity'. This move has sparked debate about censorship, freedom of speech, and the appropriation of LGBTQ+ culture.
I risk being sued, apparently, for suggesting that a famous song I’ve long heard in gay clubs in Australia and worldwide –– is a gay anthem. If I dare to claim that it is, my mind must be in the gutter, according to the song’s co-writer and lead singer, Victor Willis of Village People. My mind and all my gay friends’ minds and all our straight friends’ minds, for that matter.
while gesticulating to spell out its title (when in a good mood) or rolled my eyes at its cliched camp cheesiness (when more cynical).My eyes certainly rolled when I saw that Donald Trump, during his election campaign, had co-opted this 1978 smash hit, then desecrated it with his cringeworthy dad dance moves, bereft of rhythm, flair or the traditional letter-spelling choreography. It felt twisted; a longstanding ornament of gay culture had been misappropriated by someone who represented the kind of toxic masculinity that many in my LGBTQI community found deplorable.that the group will perform at Trump’s inaugural balls and at an inauguration eve rally in Washington this month. For years, Victor Willis had demanded that Trump stop using it for his political campaigns. Suddenly, 46 years after its release, Willis – a registered Democrat who voted for Kamala Harris – has changed his tune. “If you were to ask me today if Village People would perform at the inauguration, I would probably say no because we’d be concerned about endorsement” of Trump, Willis toldand brought so much joy to so many people, the song has actually gone back to number one … so if he were to ask Village People to perform the song live for him, we’d have to seriously consider it.”spurred by Trump’s campaigning, he says, amount to “several million dollars”. So Willis is grateful. As he might be. But he’s gone much further. He’s threatened to sue any news outlet that suggests the song is what we all know it to be: a gay anthem. Willis claimed on Facebook that this was a “false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay”. And, yes, he wants us all to get our “minds out of the gutter”.“Come January 2025,” Willis wrote, “my wife will start suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA … somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit activity for which it does not.”It’s a camp classic. Village People celebrated and commodified gay stereotypes with their costumes – a leather-clad biker, a construction worker – and profited from the gay subcultures they represented. Y.M.C.A. brought together people, queer and straight, from weddings to the pop-music gay club Palms on Oxford, on Sydney’s Oxford Street.Willis probably didn’t see the headlines in 2015, when Reclaim Australia and the United Patriots Front used Jimmy Barnes’ songs to promote their anti-Muslim and anti-immigration agenda. Barnes robustly distanced himself from those campaigns, pointing out his own family was multicultural and that Australia wasfrom BMI, the world’s leading performing rights organisation, so it had every right to it. Willis initially asked BMI to terminate that licence, but then the song roared back into the Billboard charts, so he terminated his termination request. Trump, after all, “seemed to be bringing so much joy to the American people” with his tune. MAGA supporters are thrilled by this legal threat. “It’s not a gay anthem, and there’s nothing wrong with you pulling away from that violent crowd,” one wrote below Willis’ post. Another claimed it was now America’s “second national anthem”. It’s a deliberate dilution of gay history and culture, supposed lovers of freedom of speech applauding an overreaching defamation threat and attempt at censorship.was an anthem played in spaces where queer people found safety, empowerment and joy. Now, it’ll echo across rallies held by the political movement of a strongman who’s been disdainful of difference. I’d rather not hang out with those boys
MUSIC GAY RIGHTS CENSORSHIP FREEDOM OF SPEECH DONALD TRUMP VILLAGE PEOPLE YMCA
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