I drew the original Village People in this week's cartoon, but they must be rolling over in whatever they have to roll over in if they've seen what the present iteration of the band has done to forsake its LGBTQ+ fanbase.
It all started when Donald Berzelius Trump insisted upon playing their "Y.M.C.A." at his MAGA rallies, especially at the one that degenerated into a half-hour-plus concert of his personal playlist while he, his Republican hosts, and a stand of hand-selected Trump l'oeilists stood and waited awkwardly for Trump to get tired of swaying and pumping his fists back and forth.
By the way, if you've ever been to any political rally, you know that the hand-selected loyalists who get to stand up on stage have been standing up on stage listening to that same music for two hours before the candidate ever arrived in town. The hoi polloi in the audience have been listening to it for just as long, if not longer.
Anyway, liberals mocked Trump for being such a fan of a Big Gay Anthem in spite of his antiLGBTQ+ rhetoric and threats.
The Village People, who had once upon a time joined with other artists calling on Trump to cease and desist playing their music at his rallies (organizations are supposed to pay royalties on that kind of thing, and surely Trump never has), apparently decided that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em (along with Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Soulja Boy, Rick Ross and the more standard cast of Trumpster musicians). The group sang "Y.M.C.A." at Trump's "Make America Great Again Rally" and the Turning Point USA Inaugural Ball on January 19.
Front man Victor Willis announced in a Facebook post that "Y.M.C.A.," in spite of its obvious gay references, isn't about gay stuff after all. I guess that has been a well-kept secret for almost half a century.
“There’s been a lot of talk, especially of late, that Y.M.C.A. is somehow a gay anthem. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, 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 life.
“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. ...
“As I stated on numerous occasions, I knew nothing about the Y being a hang out for gays when I wrote the lyrics to Y.M.C.A. and Jacques Morali (who was gay) never once stated such to me.”
Out heterosexual Willis, who variously portrays the cop or the admiral in the band, is the only current Village Person from the original group. He dropped out of the band from 1980 to 2017, rejoining after an out-of-court settlement
Willis gave his logic for helping Trump celebrate his return to Washington: “We believe it’s now time to bring the country back together with music, which is why VILLAGE PEOPLE will be performing at various events as part of the 2025 inauguration of Donald J. Trump.”
Under normal circumstances, “bringing the country back together” would be a laudable goal. But bringing the country together behind a lying, corrupt, vindictive, impulsive, dull-witted, petulant, bigoted, boorish, solipsistic, venal, felonious, overgrown brat who tried to violently overthrow the previous duly elected President of the United States is not.
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