YMCA

[Benjamin J Barrett]

I always thought it was because of the YMCA being such a common place
for gay people to meet and because of the band.

Then I've assumed it's widespread use in the US and Japan as due to
people not knowing the above two facts.

Benjamin Barrett
Baking the World a Better Place (with ice cream)
www.hiroki.us

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of James A. Landau

The latest in the McGreevy soap opera concerns the Surf, which is the
local minor-league baseball team here in Atlantic City. "announcer Greg
Maiuro [was fired] after he dedicated a between-innings rendition of the
song "YMCA" to McGreevey during a game on Aug. 17. The 1970s hit song by
the Village People is widely considered a gay anthem."

Is it true that "YMCA" is a "gay anthem"?

If so, is it due to the words?  The music?  Some irrelevant social
association?

If it is indeed a gay song, why is it played so often in what should be
G-rated situations such as baseball games?  There can't be enough gay
disk jockeys in this country to play that song as often as it gets
played.