The Real Story Of The YMCA That Inspired The Village People's Gay Anthem - Gothamist

Contents:

• HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!
• THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S GAY ANTHEM
• IS Y.M.C.A. REALLY A GAY SONG? THE MEANG OF THE LYRICS
• 'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY
• THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!

To celebrate and support the LGBTQ+ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, other dimensns of genr inty and alli) muny and honor the history of the LBGTQ+ movement.

On June 28, 1969, ctomers were socializg at the Stonewall Inn New York Cy, which had been patronized mostly by gay men sce 1966.

THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S GAY ANTHEM

Learn more and accs rourc om the Gay, Lbian & Straight Edutn Network (GLSEN) and the Trevor Project.

IS Y.M.C.A. REALLY A GAY SONG? THE MEANG OF THE LYRICS

” Though, today, you’ll hear the track at everythg om a school dance to a 50th anniversary party, has also been adopted by the gay muny as one of s unofficial anthems.

The songs targeted a niche rerd buyg dience: gay disthequ and their patrons.

The tl were self-explanatory: “Fire Island” (the East Coast’s gay summer retreat); “San Francis (You’ve Got Me)” (the Wt ast’s premier gay statn); “Village People” (a look at the habants of New York Cy’s largely gay Greenwich Village); and “In Hollywood (Everybody is a Star), ” the promise of artistic acplishment the word’s entertament pal. Village People nsisted of six members, each of whom personified a popular gay archetype.

'WE'RE NOT HIDG': GAY AND LBIAN RSIANS SAY A CULTURAL SHIFT IS UNRWAY

Only Willis and Rose participated on the “Village People” LP–wh Rose roly creded as “Felipe ‘Indian From the Anvil’“ (the Anvil was a gay NYC sex club). The gay msagg their songs, the gay fantasy stripper-stum, the gay dancg and fx macho posturg seemed to go over the heads of the dience–or they jt didn’t re. “Key Wt” (a gay rort statn), “Jt a Gigolo, ” “I Am What I Am” (a gay claratn), and “Sodom and Gomorrah” reached their re dience–but the sgle “Macho Man” reached further.

THE 5 BEST MOSW GAY CLUBS & BARSGAY CLUBS & BARS MOSW

An energetic chant song whose lyrics extoled the male form, exercise and gym culture, “Macho Man” was heard by straight dienc as ls gay and more sports/athletics/ol-du fun mic. Neteen seventy-ne’s double entendre-tled “Cs’” (referencg gay cisg) h stor jt seven months after “Macho Man.

” was not a “gay” song, but “a song for everyone. Addnally, lyrics like “lger on the siwalk where the neon signs are pretty” and “someone who is jt like you and needs a gentle hand to gui them along” were tac vatns for a gay listeng dience.

” was more than a h rerd, was a cultural tone: a world anthem built on, for, and about gay life and sensibili that was, neverthels, fully embraced by mastream dienc. In the 40 years sce the Village People released “YMCA, ” the song has bee a cultural touchstone: a gay anthem famo for s nuendos and double entendr about young, f men “havg a good time, ” as well as a staple at Yanke gam and bar song has also immortalized the Young Men's Christian Associatn pop culture.