this post was submitted on 03 Dec 2024
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[–] Thcdenton@lemmy.world 7 points 6 hours ago

Totally not gay. Not gay at all.

[–] JadenSmith@sh.itjust.works 26 points 9 hours ago

It's not a gay anthem, it's only coincidence that it's played in nearly every gay pub I have been to, on every gay radio station, every gay pride event (with performers), and when my first boyfriend sucked my dick. People just like picking straws, man.

Friendship with Village People's YMCA is over. Chappell Roan's Hot to Go is my new best friend.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

Welp, now we know cultural anthems are one more thing people with MAGA brain rot don't understand.

[–] inkrifle@lemmy.world 21 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Way to destroy your legacy!

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 8 hours ago

Sadly, a legacy doesn't pay the bills.

[–] gcheliotis@lemmy.world 3 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, Trump hate aside, I personally never thought of the song as gay. It has certainly such a wide appeal that it can be thought of as just a party song, surpassing whatever context may have provided inspiration for it. But reading the statement, I have to say that was a lot of words just to say it isn’t gay lol. And saying my wife will sue you for claiming something I wrote was gay sounds even sillier and like he’s trying to compensate for something.

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 1 points 4 hours ago

Plausible deniability went out the window for me after I learned the album is called Cruisin'

[–] mhague@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

Iconic EDM group Kernkraft 400 has denied their hit single Zombie Nation is a sporting anthem. "It's not played at sporting events. It just isn't."


News from a fever dream.

[–] Monstrosity@lemm.ee 15 points 21 hours ago

This is sad. This makes me sad.

[–] juliebean@lemm.ee 273 points 1 day ago (3 children)

why would he do that?

he stands to make “several million dollars” due to Trump’s continued use of the song.

oh, right.

[–] ilinamorato@lemmy.world 111 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Ha. That implies that Trump would ever pay him anything.

[–] Blackmist 9 points 8 hours ago

He didn't even pay his lawyers, and he actually needs those.

[–] ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one 25 points 1 day ago

Surely, Trump won’t stiff me with the bill.

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 61 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I cried all the way to the bank

Liberace after winning a libel suit against a news paper calling him a homosexual

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace_v_Daily_Mirror

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 163 points 1 day ago (4 children)

TIL that Victor Willis of The Village People is a fascist.

[–] Blackmist 9 points 8 hours ago

He did dress as a cop. The clues were there.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 1 points 6 hours ago

TIL he's still alive.

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 94 points 1 day ago (1 children)

"You have to understand, I'm set up to make millions from this song"

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 87 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Only if Trump pays for using it.

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[–] Snowclone@lemmy.world 42 points 1 day ago (8 children)

You'll come to find many people you would have never suspected are OK with fascism, when it makes them rich.

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[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 105 points 1 day ago (12 children)

My step-son was 11 and constantly singing YMCA.

"Look, I don't want to freak you out, but in case you get made fun of at school, YMCA is a gay anthem. No problem with that, but you should know."

He was horrified, so he started singing "I Will Survive" instead. I just didn't have the heart to tell him.

[–] cheers_queers@lemm.ee 3 points 8 hours ago

fast forward 10 years, he sits down to "tell you something important" and then is shocked when you already knew 😆

[–] BoxOfFeet@lemmy.world 7 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

He just needs to embrace them. I'm a straight dude, I love gay anthems. I made $20 one time by singing I Will Survive for karaoke at a crowded bowling alley, in front of my wife's entire company. Whatever, can't embarrass me. I love that song. Didn't even need the karaoke screen.

Joke's on them, I would have sang it for free. Any or all that I know. Diana Ross, Cyndi Lauper (I just saw her a couple months ago), The Weather Girls (I have an It's Raining Men 12" single) and I will belt them all out with my own terrible choreography.

[–] smeenz@lemmy.nz 2 points 5 hours ago

Well done singing that in public. I would have been afraid at first, then petrified

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[–] BetaBlake@lemmy.world 46 points 1 day ago

Lol like Trump is actually going to pay you for using the song, it really is rubes all the way down

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 91 points 1 day ago (7 children)

The more I read the funnier it gets

As for the idea that “Y.M.C.A. is “somehow a gay anthem,” Willis said that “is a false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay, and that the first Village People album was totally about gay

“This assumption is also based on the fact that the YMCA was apparently being used as some sort of gay hangout and since one of the writers was gay and some of the Village People are gay, the song must be a message to gay people. To that I say once again, get your minds out of the gutter. It is not.

...

I therefore wrote ‘Y.M.C.A.’ about the things I knew about the Y in the urban areas of San Francisco such as swimming, basketball, track, and cheap food and cheap rooms. And when I say, “hang out with all the boys” that is simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging-out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that.

[–] EleventhHour@lemmy.world 124 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

“As a straight member of a gay band, I totally didn’t get the point of the gay song I wrote for my gay band”

[–] MataVatnik@lemmy.world 67 points 1 day ago

I'm not gay I just like hanging out with the boys

[–] minnow@lemmy.world 84 points 1 day ago (4 children)

I hate him saying "get your mind out of the gutter" as if even thinking about people who are gay is itself a perverted sexual act.

Gay people exist. Acknowledging this and discussing whether a piece of media is directed at them is not "mind in gutter" stuff.

I don't want to go so far as to say this person is homophobic, but it sure does sound like some internalized homophobia, perhaps.

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[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 67 points 1 day ago (9 children)

Its not "a" gay anthem.

Its the gay anthem. FTFY.

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[–] ninjabard@lemmy.world 33 points 1 day ago

Oh, honey. No.

[–] Flax_vert 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Young Men's Christian Association?

[–] Depress_Mode@lemmy.world 41 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

Yes. If you weren't aware, the YMCA was a very common meeting/cruising place for gay men back in the day. The YMCA used to be known for providing cheap food and housing, so it attracted a lot of dudes to come stay there and some of them were gay. Gay bars weren't really a thing for the most part, so other places like the YMCA became the default. It's even more convenient if you already happen to live there.

As early as 1919, the YMCA was already a common cruising spot for both members of the US military and civilians. Some guy went up to FDR (Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time) and was like "Want me to catch some of the gay dudes in the Navy?" When FDR approved, the Navy sent undercover twinks to the YMCA in Newport, Rhode Island to fuck a bunch dudes and report back like, "Yep, they were gay. I know because we fucked." Pretty shitty, since the result was a court-martial and some people ended up getting sent to naval prison or dishonorably discharged (a few were found not guilty). The investigators rarely expressed any objection to the sexual acts in their reports, either, so it's a little messed up that they'd get dudes in trouble for fucking by fucking them. I can still find an element of humor, though, in the fact that the US Navy was cool with sending specifically young, good-looking dudes to honeypot sailors into boning as a means of investigation all the way back in 1919. It was known as the Newport sex scandal if you want to read more.

[–] grainOfSalt@lemm.ee 3 points 10 hours ago

Ah, the "good old days" before entrapment was established by case law. I would say our joke of a Supreme Court would like to overturn that too, but it'd apply way too often to their own hypocritical party. Although they would probably just make exceptions for their own party.

[–] Flax_vert 4 points 19 hours ago

That's hilarious

[–] Revan343@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 hours ago

I enjoyed their latest album, “Bone to Be Wild”

Idk seems kinda gay to me 🤷

[–] EndOfLine@lemmy.world 46 points 1 day ago (4 children)

WOW! Not much in the news has shocked and surprised me as much as this article has.

Victor Willis says he will take legal action against any news organization that suggest "Y.M.C.A." is a gay anthem beginning in January 2025

I'm really curious to know what legal action he intends to take. Doesn't he have to show some sort of damages for any hope of not throwing his money away on frivolous lawsuits that will go nowhere?

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