‘Y.M.C.A’ Singer Says He’ll Sue If You Call It A ‘Gay Anthem.’ Legal Experts Say He’s Unlikely To Win. | Practice Source - Legal News and Views

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Village People singer Victor Willis claims there’s “nothing gay” about his lyrics, but lawyers say actual lawsuits would likely run headlong into the First Amendment.

Village People singer Victor Willis might be threatening to sue news outlets that describe his song “Y.M.C.A” as a “gay anthem,” but legal experts say such lawsuits would likely be a “nonstarter.”

In a social media post on Monday defending President-elect Donald Trump’s use of the iconic disco song at his campaign rallies, Willis also sharply denied that he had intended the track to be aimed at the gay community — calling it a “false assumption” and “completely misguided.”

But he also went a step further than that, warning that next month his team would “start suing each and every news organization” that refers to “Y.M.C.A” as a “gay anthem,” calling such a description “defamatory.”

“The song is not really a gay anthem other than certain people falsely suggesting that it is,” Willis wrote in the post. “And this must stop because it is damaging to the song.”

Released by the Village People in October 1978, “Y.M.C.A” eventually reached No. 2 on the Hot 100 and was emblematic of the late-1970s disco craze. The buoyant track and its trademark alphabetic dance have become one of music’s enduring phenomenons, blasted for years at sporting events, wedding dance floors and, of late, Trump rallies.

According to The Financial Times, the song has been “widely interpreted as a gay anthem” for years: “This is no great stretch for a song encouraging ‘young men’ to ‘find many ways to have a good time,’” the outlet wrote. Beyond the lyrics, the band’s 1977 debut album made clear references to gay cultural touchstones, and the music video for “Y.M.C.A” was itself filmed in front of the famed New York City gay bar The Ramrod.

“‘Y.M.C.A.’ was more than a hit record,” reads a 2021 article released by the Library of Congress. “It was a cultural milestone: a world anthem built on, for, and about gay life and sensibilities that was, nevertheless, fully embraced by mainstream audiences.”