HAPPY PRIDE! How “Y.M.C.A.” Beme a Gay Anthem! | Now See Hear!

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
• THE 50 BT GAY SONGS TO CELEBRATE PRI ALL YEAR LONG
• LADY GAGA RETURNS WH SONG, SPEECH AT NYC GAY PRI RALLY
• NEW YORK CY GAY MEN'S CHOS PERFORMG "CHASG RABOWS" THIS PRI MONTH SOUTH BRONX
• IS TROYE SIVAN’S ‘RH’ SEXY FUN OR GAY DETR?
• THE 10 BT GAY MILS OF ALL TIME

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

“Straight people were clumsy and had no rhythm, whereas gay men were right on. Manco’s crowd, which clud many gay men of lor, bellowed out the chos, refigurg the song’s addrsee as a new kd of Shore Commissn, ‘Free Man’ (1975)D. -led dance spac that were exclive to gay men — ually whe, middle-class gay men — started to open Manhattan late 1972.

Valento, ‘I Was Born This Way’ (1975)The first rerd to feature lyrics about beg an out-and-proud gay man me om the mil performer Charl “Valento” Harris, who released “I Was Born This Way” as an apparently one-off release on Gaiee. “I’m happy, I’m reee and I’m gay, ” the sger hollers over soulful stmentatn. ” “The lyrics were perfect, ” she told me Summer, ‘I Feel Love’ (1977)Gay male dance crowds were drawn to rerdgs that featured Black female volists, often intifyg wh their emotnal exprsivens and strength the face of adversy, often to the surprise of the artists, who were ually gospel-traed.

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

A pneerg reprentative, Gloria Gaynor was crowned the first queen of dis by gay D. Patrick Cowley, ‘Mutant Man’ (1982)Patrick Cowley fed his reputatn as one of the world’s most progrsive synthizer players durg rerdgs wh the dis pneer Sylvter, cludg “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), ” perhaps the ultimate gay male anthem.

THE 50 BT GAY SONGS TO CELEBRATE PRI ALL YEAR LONG

”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn D, Page 5 of the New York edn wh the headle: Sp Some Gay Dis. ” 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.

LADY GAGA RETURNS WH SONG, SPEECH AT NYC GAY PRI RALLY

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.

NEW YORK CY GAY MEN'S CHOS PERFORMG "CHASG RABOWS" THIS PRI MONTH SOUTH BRONX

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. 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.

IS TROYE SIVAN’S ‘RH’ SEXY FUN OR GAY DETR?

Neteen seventy-ne’s double entendre-tled “Cs’” (referencg gay cisg) h stor jt seven months after “Macho Man.

THE 10 BT GAY MILS OF ALL TIME

” was not a “gay” song, but “a song for everyone.