Victor Willis, singer and co-writer of the Village People’s hit “Y.M.C.A.,” announced on Monday that starting January 1, he will file lawsuits against any news organization that labels the song a “gay anthem.”
The 1978 disco classic recently surged to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, driven by its prominent use at President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign rallies and his victory on November 5.
In a Monday Facebook post, Willis noted, “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.”
“Sadly, when the President Elect started using the song, people attempting to brand the song as a gay anthem reached a fever pitch as many used it to say, oh, Trump don’t know the song is a gay anthem? This was done in a manner to attempt to shame the President Elect’s use of the song,” he added.
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Victor Willis, who clarified that he is