Durg an appearance on the Nelk Boys’ “Full Send” podst, Donald Tmp said “Y.M.C.A.” is his go-to song when playg DJ at Mar-a-Lago. “They ll the gay natnal anthem. ‘Y.M.C.A.’ gets people up and gets them movg,” he said.
Contents:
- 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
- HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!
- TMP EXPLAS HIS LOVE OF ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ WHICH HE CLAIMS IS THE ‘GAY NATNAL ANTHEM’
THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S GAY ANTHEM
The heterosexual ontman for the Village People wants you to know the inic song "YMCA" is not about illic gay sex, warng he's gog to sue anyone who suggts otherwise.
Is somehow about illic gay sex, " Willis warned via Facebook, later addg "Get your md out of the gutter, please! "But he should at least do the 'YMCA' dance while he's at for Village People fans everywhere, the print apparently heard Willis's Willis is upset about people thkg his lyrics are about gay sex, he has absolutely no problem wh the song beg somethg more to the LGBTQ+ muny. "I'm happy the gay muny adopted as their anthem, I have no qualms wh that, " he said the statement.
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.
HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!
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. 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.
”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. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, a men's rtroom at the Mneapolis airport for allegedly lookg to engage gay sex wrote his June report that he "regnized a signal ed by persons wishg to engage lewd nduct.
TMP EXPLAS HIS LOVE OF ‘Y.M.C.A.,’ WHICH HE CLAIMS IS THE ‘GAY NATNAL ANTHEM’
Craig told reporters today that he did nothg appropriate and said his guilty plea was a plac like men's rtrooms, airports and tra statns, tck stops, universy librari and parks, have long been plac where gay and bisexual men, particularly those the closet, ngregate orr to meet for anonymo time, people faiar wh cisg told, gay men began g a dified system of signals to dite to others that they were terted sex.
In an effort to curb lewd acts public — or as some gays argue, an effort to persecute gay men — unrver police began stg operatns plac known for sex solicg and employed the same s. Bee much of the signalg is self benign behavr, some gay rights activists and lawyers have admonished police partments for arrtg men who have done ltle more than tap their feet. "Cizens have a right not to nont lewd activy public plac, " said Steve Sanrs, a lawyer and gay rights activist.