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

Contents:

• THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S GAY ANTHEM
• HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!
• IS Y.M.C.A. REALLY A GAY SONG? THE MEANG OF THE LYRICS
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT
• LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?
• GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT
• TMP EXPLAS HIS LOVE OF ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ WHICH HE CLAIMS IS THE ‘GAY NATNAL ANTHEM’
• VILLAGE PEOPLE GIV TMP OK TO PLAY GAY ANTHEMS 'YMCA,' 'MACHO MAN' AT RALLI

THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S 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.

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

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

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. Yet former rints of the McBurney Y Chelsea — the buildg that spired the song, and which was featured the vio released late 1978 — say the realy of stays at the YMCA those days was more plited than the lyrics portray, wh gay culture and workg-class workouts existg a sgle munal space.

“There was certaly a party aspect to their vio and that time was the height of all the gay clubs Chelsea, ” rells Davidson Garrett, who lived at the McBurney Y om 1978 through 2000.

“[The YMCA] did have some overlappg of gay cisg. Garrett adds unrgraduate stunts and disabled men to the mix of ethnilly and racially diverse renters, about half of whom he timat were gay. Often gay and their 20s or 30s, the weekend guts ed the YMCA “as a drsg room, ” and as a place to discreetly hook up, Garrett says.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

Meanwhile, hoekeepers me not jt to offer towels and change your sheets, but to keep an eye on you, Kangappadan of the song’s charm, of urse, is s petg terpretatns: It n be read equally well as a celebratn of gay culture or of the workg man.

And as a Sp oral history revealed on the song's 30th anniversary ten years ago, even the group self didn't agree on the proper Hodo (“the nstctn worker”) sisted to Sp that Jacqu Morali, the French producer who helped create the group and -wrote the song wh lead sger Victor Willis (“the p”), certaly had the gay muny md when he me up wh the song.

There’s nothg gay about them.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: ANTI-GAY LAWS PROMOTE VLENCE, DISCRIMATN ST. VCENT

”Jon, who was a Y member at the time, sists to Gothamist that the band's artistic tent wasn’t to produce a gay anthem.

“But if you happen to be a gay man and have the experience and perspective of hookg up wh each other, ’s another way n be perceived.

LGBT RIGHTS AI: WILL KENYA BE THE LATT TO PASS ANTI-GAY LAW?

” 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. 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).

GAY UNSELOR'S FIRG BY INDIANAPOLIS CATHOLIC SCHOOL PERMTED BY FERAL APPEALS URT

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.

TMP EXPLAS HIS LOVE OF ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ WHICH HE CLAIMS IS THE ‘GAY NATNAL ANTHEM’

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.

VILLAGE PEOPLE GIV TMP OK TO PLAY GAY ANTHEMS 'YMCA,' 'MACHO MAN' AT RALLI

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. Is at the same time the most famo gay anthem the history of mic and one of the bt known dis songs ever.

Composed practilly by chance by Village People and released 1978, the song quickly beme a huge succs, both the gay muny of the time and subsequently any ntext where you need a song to get people gog, be at a weddg, a nightclub or a the Village People ed to do their songs, YMCA’s lyrics nta several allns that n be easily noticed by a gay dience. Apparently was also an easy way for young homosexuals to meet other peers when you were new the cy, and this ed the entire homosexual muny to set up as a muny the years, Village People have often been asked if Y. ’s lyrics explicly geared to double meangs that uld be weled by gay dienc.