I risk being sued, apparently, for suggesting that a famous song I’ve long heard in gay clubs in Australia and worldwide – Y.M.C.A. – is a gay anthem. If I dare to claim that it is, my mind must be in the gutter, according to the song’s co-writer and lead singer, Victor Willis of Village People. My mind and all my gay friends’ minds and all our straight friends’ minds, for that matter.
For decades, I’ve danced to Y.M.C.A. while gesticulating to spell out its title (when in a good mood) or rolled my eyes at its cliched camp cheesiness (when more cynical).
Village People on the street, though not in the gutter, in 1980. Credit: EMI
My eyes certainly rolled when I saw that Donald Trump, during his election campaign, had co-opted this 1978 smash hit, then desecrated it with his cringeworthy dad dance moves, bereft of rhythm, flair or the traditional letter-spelling choreography. It felt twisted; a longstanding ornament of gay culture had been misappropriated by someone who represented the kind of toxic masculinity that many in my LGBTQI community found deplorable.
This week, it was confirmed that the group will perform at Trump’s inaugural balls and at an inauguration eve rally in Washington this month. For years, Victor Willis had demanded that Trump stop using it for his political campaigns. Suddenly, 46 years after its release, Willis – a registered Democrat who voted for Kamala Harris – has changed his tune.
“If you were to ask me today if Village People would perform at the inauguration, I would probably say no because we’d be concerned about endorsement” of Trump, Willis told Fox & Friends First last month. “However, because the president-elect has done so much for Y.M.C.A. and brought so much joy to so many people, the song has actually gone back to number one [in sales] … so if he were to ask Village People to perform the song live for him, we’d have to seriously consider it.”
Donald Trump on the campaign trail with South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who knew the Y.M.C.A. moves. Credit: AP
Willis adds that “the financial benefits have been great”. Sales of Y.M.C.A. spurred by Trump’s campaigning, he says, amount to “several million dollars”. So Willis is grateful. As he might be.
But he’s gone much further. He’s threatened to sue any news outlet that suggests the song is what we all know it to be: a gay anthem. Willis claimed on Facebook that this was a “false assumption based on the fact that my writing partner was gay, and some (not all) of Village People were gay”. And, yes, he wants us all to get our “minds out of the gutter”.
