Viersen, Germany – May 9. 2023: Closeup of american disco band Village People vinyl record album cover with YMCA hit from 70s (focus on center)
Y.M.C.A co-writer Victor Willis says that starting in January, he will sue “each and every news organization that falsely refers to Y.M.C.A., either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem.”
Willis, who is straight, co-wrote the song with the band’s straight producer Henri Belolo and its gay producer Jacques Morali. He has pushed back against the song’s identity as a gay anthem in the past, but the conversation around its meaning has reached new heights in the wake of Donald Trump’s obsession with playing the song at rallies and other events.
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Many have mocked the president-elect – the leader of a viciously anti-LGBTQ+ party – for unwittingly using a song that so many consider a rallying cry for the LGBTQ+ community. But even he once called the 1978 hit the “gay national anthem,” saying that he loves to use it because it gets people up and moving.
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In his recent post, Willis offered a lengthy explanation for why the song should not be seen as a gay anthem and also for his decision to embrace Trump’s use of it, a reversal from his 2020 request that Trump no longer use any Village People music.
The short version is the song’s renewed popularity is making Willis a lot of money.
He said he originally decided to ask Trump to stop using the song because the number of people complaining to him about it “had become a nuisance,” though his original request suggests discontent with Trump’s threats on the American people.
But Willis said he changed his mind because Trump is “having a lot of fun” with the song and he “didn’t have the heart” to stop him from using it.
He added, “Y.M.C.A. has benefited greatly from use by the President Elect. For example, Y.M.C.A. was stuck at #2 on the Billboard chart prior to the President Elect’s use. However, the song finally made it to #1 on a Billboard chart after over 45 years (and held on to #1 for two weeks) due to the President Elect’s use,” which he said has led to big “financial benefits.”
“Y.M.C.A. is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President Elect’s continued use of the song. Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President Elect’s continued use of Y.M.C.A. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.”
He then tried to tear down the notion that the song is a gay anthem, explaining that it is “damaging to the song” and when he wrote the lyrics he had no idea the Y was a gay hangout.
“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.”
He then claimed he doesn’t mind if gay people think of it as their anthem but said the “true anthem” is that it has “appeal to people of all strips including President Elect Trump.”
This is not the first time Willis has threatened to sue news outlets who claim the song is associated with the gay community.
In a September 2020 Facebook post, Willis wrote, “I will sue the next media organization, or anyone else, that falsely suggests Y.M.C.A. is somehow about illicit gay sex… Get your mind out of the gutter, please!” His post was likely an exaggeration as there’s no record of him actually suing anyone over it.
But as with his most recent post, he also contradicted himself then, saying, “I’m happy the gay community adopted it as their anthem. I have no qualms with that.”
Some of his bandmates, however, disagree with the song’s original intent.
Randy Jones, who performed as Village People’s cowboy, told Spin magazine in 2008 that he helped inspire Morali to create the song by taking the producer to a New York City YMCA gym in the late 1970s and having him meet gay adult actors who worked out there.
In fact, gay cultural critic Michael Musto believes that the song has been “straight-washed.”
“All these years later, the gay subtext is gone, and it’s a rah-rah crowd-pleaser for the baseball stadium crowd,” Musto said, noting the song’s popularity at sporting events. “It happens. A rallying song for the oppressed turns into a middle-of-the-road spirit-lifter, mainly because the straights like to steal things from the gays, take away all the scary edge, and make it their own.”
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