YMCA isn’t gay and my wife will sue if you claim it is, says Village People songwriter

Village People’s Victor Willis thanks Donald Trump for helping the song reach new heights in the charts.

The songwriter behind the smash hit pop song YMCA has said his wife will sue anyone who refers to the song as a gay anthem.

In a post on Facebook on Monday, the Village People’s Victor Willis also defended Donald Trump’s use of the song on the campaign trail.

Willis, who appeared as the policeman in the song’s music video, wrote: “Come January 2025, my wife will start suing each and every news organisation that falsely refers to YMCA, either in their headlines or alluded to in the base of the story, that YMCA is somehow a gay anthem because such notion is based solely on the song’s lyrics alluding to elicit [sic] activity for which it does not.”

Willis claimed there was a “false assumption” that YMCA was a gay anthem because his bandmates were homosexual, as well as the Young Male Christian Associations being considered somewhat of a gay hangout.

The singer said the famous line “You can hang out with all the boys” was “simply 1970s black slang for black guys hanging out together for sports, gambling or whatever. There’s nothing gay about that”.

The disco song, a staple of karaoke and sports events, has risen to a new level of prominence since Trump adopted it for campaign rallies in the United States before his presidential election victory last month.

Sportsmen have started mimicking a dance performed by the President-elect during the song.

YMCA shot up the Billboard dance/electronic sales chart as polling day approached on November 5, and finally hit No 1 after Trump’s victory the week of November 17.

Some musicians have distanced themselves from Trump’s use of their material, and Willis too initially asked him to stop using YMCA because it had become a “nuisance”.

But he added the Republican had obtained a political use licence for the song from BMI, which manages music performance rights, meaning it could be used freely.

And when the money started rolling in, BMI was told not to try to remove Trump’s use of the song.

“The financial benefits have been great,” said Willis.

“YMCA is estimated to gross several million dollars since the President-elect’s continued use of the song. Therefore, I’m glad I allowed the President-elect’s continued use of YMCA. And I thank him for choosing to use my song.

“For example, YMCA was stuck at #2 on the Billboard chart prior to the President-elect’s use. However, the song finally made it to #1 on a Billboard chart after over 45 years (and held on to #1 for two weeks) due to the President-elect’s use.”