Village People star sists that YMCA is not about illic gay sex

Contents:

• THE REAL STORY OF THE YMCA THAT INSPIRED THE VILLAGE PEOPLE'S GAY ANTHEM
• VILLAGE PEOPLE STAR SISTS THAT YMCA IS NOT ABOUT ‘ILLIC GAY SEX’ AND THREATENS TO SUE ANYONE WHO SAYS IS
• HAPPY PRIDE! HOW “Y.M.C.A.” BEME A GAY ANTHEM!
• VILLAGE PEOPLE GIV TMP OK TO PLAY GAY ANTHEMS 'YMCA,' 'MACHO MAN' AT RALLI
• A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO

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

Everyone knows that Christiany and homosexualy don’t mix, pecially at the time the Village People were popular and wrote this song. So why would a group of homosexual men sg the prais of an anizatn that is opposn to their liftyle?

When they sg thgs like “you n do whatever you feel” or “you n hang out wh all the boys, ” they’re basilly sayg ’s a place for gay men to ms around wh other gay men. They’re sayg the anti gay Christian associatn is actually super gay. They’re tellg a young man, probably a gay man, to go to a place meant to help make him straight and teach him Christian ials orr to cheer him up bee will actually have the oppose effect.

Young man: how did the Village People's "YMCA, " a song celebratg the closeted homosexual teractns occurg 1960's Christian gymnasiums, bee an anthem which a room full of 13 year olds at a church gatherg would enthiastilly dance to later s? I don’t thk they are gay, eher. I see hts of ternalized homophobia that le, and I thk he’d be a lot more fortable if he alt wh .

VILLAGE PEOPLE STAR SISTS THAT YMCA IS NOT ABOUT ‘ILLIC GAY SEX’ AND THREATENS TO SUE ANYONE WHO SAYS IS

Rich: Jane Ward’s 2015 book Not Gay kicked off a lot of disurse about “straight” guys who engage “gay” sex, and I thk did a real disservice to nuance by beg totally crlo of self-labelg. Given the societal prsure to be straight and the history of closeted gay, bi, and queer men sayg one thg and dog another, I don’t necsarily thk we need to take people at their word when they say they’re straight and do thgs that suggt otherwise. I thk what happens is people say, to themselv, “Well, gay/bi/queer people are like this.

Do you go to particularly gay gyms? From Slate’s piece on them: “The rults of ‘Is mutual masturbatn gay? ’ were 465 to 100 that mutual masturbatn is not gay.

As not gay as may be, ’s also not not gay. (CN) - A married uple claim a class actn that YMCAs, which advertise themselv as safe for fai, wh "Christian valu, " are actually "brothels" for homosexual men "cisg" for sexual relatnships, who subject members to unwanted advanc.

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

But Keister says the YMCA misleads ctomers through s marketg mpaigns, cultivatg a false image of plac wh "high ethil standards and Christian valu, " when fact they tolerate "cisg" for homosexual relatnships and allow members to be subjected to unwanted sexual advanc. "On Cisg Gays, for example, is remend that cisers 'start strokg the sna or shower and look for a rponse. ' In addn, Cisg Gays remends that at YMCAs, cisers 'go the sna wh jt your towel wrapped around you, shift yourself around a few tim to see if.

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.

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

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.

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.

A PEEK UNR THE TOWEL: INSI THE 500-YEAR HISTORY OF GAY BATHHO

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. Thgs get a ltle tricky for those who are gay and/or transgenred.

While a robt gay muny this sna, homophobic remarks have been heard om staff and clients and the Y’s sister lotn mid-town has faced human rights plats regards to s polici towards transgenred folks.