WTF, Indiana?

Sometimes it takes me awhile to process concepts.  Such is the case with Indiana’s so-called ‘Religious Freedom’ legislation, so forgive me for being so tardy, but I finally have figured out what it is that bothers me so much about it.

Push aside the whole blanket LGBT discrimination angle, and what you  find is a bill that pretty much says that anyone in Indiana can discriminate against anyone – which of course flies in the face of Federal statutes in place to prevent exactly that.

What bothers me is that a law that should pertain solely to individuals is being parsed out to public businesses.  Businesses operate to provide services.  If you take money from people to provide a service, then you are a business. 

An individual has the right to practice whatever religion they wish, so long as no local, state, or federal laws are broken.  Religion is – and should be – a very private thing; something that is individual in nature, even if practiced in group settings.  If a congregation / sect / church doesn’t wish to perform gay marriages within their temple / synagogue / glass tower – and the majority of people belonging to said congregation / sect / church feels that gay marriage goes against their principles, in the same way that say an animal sacrifice would not be welcome – then I can understand that.   

It’s not loving.  It’s not inclusive.  But, then, most religions aren’t either of those things, either by design or due to group consensus. 

The problem with ‘Religious Freedom’ as defined in Indiana is that they wish to extend that right to businesses that serve the general public – and that, my friends, is discrimination – in all its many horrific forms.  And bigots who own businesses get that.  They welcome it.

The law wasn’t but a day old and some stupid pizza shop announced that they would not cater gay weddings.  They believe that being gay is something gay folk choose, just as they claim to choose to be heterosexual.  Well, needless to say, the hammer came down pretty hard social media-wise and the shop is currently closed. 

The reaction from other states, businesses, organizations, and celebrities has been just as scathing and detrimental to Indiana’s bottom line.  Events have been cancelled, boycotts called for, with the skeptical eyes of the nation zeroing in on the Hoosier state, costing it big bucks.

In light of the backlash, Governor Pence, who made such a big deal out of signing the damn thing, is calling for changes to be made to the law.  Now, Jeb Bush, with his eye on the White House, has softened his support of the bill, as have other politicians who initially proclaimed the law as just and timely. 

Sorry, Indiana, but the damage has been done.  At this point you might as well fly the confederate flag and post ‘no gays at counter’ signs.  The precedence of condoned discrimination will now forever be part of your legacy.

WTF, Indiana?

WTF, Michigan?

WTF, Michigan?

What the hell is the matter with the state of Michigan?  When did they become a hot bed for homophobia?

Last weekend, the State House in Michigan passed a broadly-written bill, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which would allow people to refuse service to LGBT if providing such was at odds with their religious beliefs.  This would include medical / healthcare personnel, such as doctors, nurses, EMTs, and pharmacists.  Need HIV meds?  You may be denied.  Bleeding out the side of your neck?  You might have to wait for a healthcare professional who doesn’t care about your sexual orientation.

The bill still has to be passed by the state senate.  Should it leap that hurdle, hopefully the governor has enough sense to veto the damn thing, just as Arizona’s Jan Brewer did to a similar bill last year. 

Jase Bolger, Michigan’s current Speaker of the House, managed to fast track the measure, which passed 59-50, right along party lines.  “I support individual liberty and I support religious freedom,” Bolger said. “I have been horrified as some have claimed that a person’s faith should only be practiced while hiding in their home or in their church.”

Ummm… what?  Separation of church and state?  How about freedom from religious persecution?

But wait… the logic in this state only gets more convoluted. 

At the same time they were legislating discrimination, the house in Michigan was also busy working on passing a law that would protect the civil rights of the LGBT community. Whiplash logic, to be sure, but that bill got stalled after the testimony of Pastor Stacy Swimp, who testified:

“No one from the LGBT community has ever had fire hoses turned on them by the police department, they have never had to drink out of an LGBT water fountain.  There is no record of LGBT — homosexuals, lesbians—being forced to sit at the back of the bus in an LGBT section.”

Huh? 

So, let’s put aside the fact that they bothered to hear testimony from a man whom many civil rights groups have identified as a hatemonger, but what the man had to say flies in the face of reality.  No, the LGBT community hasn’t experienced exactly the same discrimination as African Americans in this country, Pastor Swimp, but we have been beaten, intimidated, denied employment, denied housing, and killed because of our sexual orientation. 

Oh, and we put up with bullshit from the likes of you!

I have a solution to this state's many problems, including the recent bankruptcy of Detroit.

Madonna needs to come to the rescue.

She could buy Detroit.  She’d be able to buy it for pennies on the dollar and then become their very own ‘Evita’.

Detroit could be transformed into a new gay mecca.  I mean, if Madonna appeared on a balcony each morning to sing, I would actually consider moving there.

But until then?

WTF, Michigan?

Wonderland Burlesque’s Turdscooter of the Week: Linda Harvey

Wonderland Burlesque’s 
Turdscooter of the Week: 

Linda Harvey

Oh, my… first Laurie Higgins and now, hatemonger, fact-challenged homophobe, Linda Harvey.  An obvious choice, I realize, but her latest crazyhate claim deserves a bit of attention from the GLBT Community.

Seems rabid Linda blames GLBT Youth Centers for the rise of HIV among 13-24 year olds, citing the… ummm… ‘fact’ that young people who go to such places are “being preyed upon by older homosexuals”.  Terming these gathering places as “homosexual sex centers”, she, (apparently based on personal experience?), goes on to illustrate the dangers lurking by stating: “The things that go on in the bathrooms at these centers… it’s unbelievable.  It’s everything you can imagine.”

Yeah… unbelievable… that’s a good term for it, Linda. 

As for everything you can imagine going on in those bathrooms, well… I feel sorry for you.  It must be difficult to live with all that gay porn running behind your eyeballs 24/7. 

This latest vitrolic smegma schmear sprang forth from Ms. Harvey’s old biddy cornhole like a snake handler speaking tongues during an interview with the head of Cleveland Right to Life, Molly Smith.

Highlights included:

-       “Social service agencies donate money because, again, it’s considered a youth center. No, it’s a homosexual sex center and kids should not be involved in this. This is another way HIV is being spread, I think. There’s no question that kids are being preyed upon by older homosexuals, and that’s why you see Centers for Disease Control shows 13- to 24-year-old HIV rates are going up.”

-       “There is no such thing as a gay person. There are people with those attractions and preferences, but not intrinsically, and those behaviors are immoral and harmful. So, are they ever going to tell children that? I would hope so, but these bullying programs are pretty weak on the whole picture.”

Please note the inclusion of the words, “I think” in that first quote.  Yeah, Linda has a history of providing a lot of alarming media sound bites for the homophobic right without providing any actual data to back up her outrageous claims.  Keep in mind, she also claims that gay rights lead to abortion.  One can only imagine the herculean Rube Goldberg machine-like thought process that led to that conclusion, but, yep… she said it.

From my perspective - as someone who is not a trained psychoanalyst, but won’t let that prevent him from putting forth a totally unfounded theory (not unlike a certain foaming at the mouth radio personality whose last name begins with an ‘H’) , it’s very clear that Linda has some childhood trauma that she is trying to work through.  In public, no less!

Perhaps it was something that took place in the unisex bathroom at her local youth center?  Or was it the shock of her first mullet at the hands of a well-meaning, small town, male hairdresser?   Or could it be that ad for Birkenstocks she happened upon while perusing an issue of ‘Christian Youth Magazine’?  I don’t know.  I hate to speculate (unlike a certain born again biddy).  

But, clearly, the woman is disturbed. 

So, dear gay brothers and sisters, I urge you to look upon this tortured soul as someone who has been touched (in the head) by an angel (with a tire iron), and resolve to balm her pustulous, syphilitic-brain-like ravings with heaping spoonfuls of the rainbow-colored sugar we call compassion. 

In that spirit, let’s all dig in our spoons, load ‘em up, and attempt to sugar coat the throat of Wonderland Burlesque’s Turdscooter of the Week, Mission America’s own dementedly homo-obsessed, Linda Harvey. 

Careful with all that compassion kids!

We wouldn’t want to choke a bitch.

Wonderland Burlesque’s Turdscooters of the Week, Part Two: Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann

Wonderland Burlesque’s Turdscooters of the Week, Part Two:

Minnesota’s Michele Bachmann

  

Oh, Michele.

What a special little turdscooter you are.

You hold a special place in my jaundiced heart, where I wish upon you things that I know I should not wish on anyone, for in doing so I wish them upon myself.  Still, your brand of bat shit crazy evil inspires such thoughts and I find myself, time and again, powerless to do otherwise.

Last week, on the conservative radio show ‘Faith & Liberty’ (Who listens to this junk?), Michele, as is her way, made up more stuff about the GLBT community.  Her latest lie goes like this:

“They want to abolish age of consent laws, which means children would…we would do away with statutory rape laws so that adults will be able to freely prey on little children sexually.  That’s the deviance that we’re seeing embraced in our culture today.”

Really?

Hmmm.  I’ve been gay quite a while now, and I cannot recall any gay Log Cabin Republicans, or gay Democrats, or, even, gay Green Party folk advocating for any such thing.  So, enlighten us with some facts, Michele: pinpoint that specific piece of legislation introduced by gay folks that demand the right to rape children.  Please, do, because if there are any gays out there wanting such a thing, I would like to know about it – so I can wish upon them the very same things I frequently find myself, although I know better, wishing upon your tiny demonic soul.

You see, Michele, you’ve once again, confused gay people with pedophiles – a nasty little habit of yours that makes even the kindest hearted of gay people wish upon you terrible, despicable acts.  And trust me, they do; terrible, terrible things.

Now, I realize that you do this because you are not a very bright human being, for you are someone who is poorly educated and born without the common sense of a rotted tree stump. 

I know that you say these things because there isn’t anything at all objectionable about the majority of gay folk, who mow their lawns, go to church, and pay their taxes, just like you do (Well, you?  Taxes?  Not so much.), so you have to make stuff up in order to ensure you extend your fifteen minutes in the national spotlight.  In that way, you are sort of a parasite, Michele.  Without gay folk, you would cease to exist. Not a bad thing, really, and one of the many things I have a habit of wishing upon you.

Now, I ‘get it’: that you say the things you do about gay people because you married a gay man and even though he denies his true nature and allows you to force your body upon his once a month as marked on your ‘special time’ calendar, the fact that he is gay drives you to the utter brink of insanity. 

And deep in my heart, I know that you, like ‘Family Guy’s’ Peter Griffin, if forced to take a standardized test would be revealed to be… ummm, to put it politely… ‘challenged’.

But that is no excuse, woman. None of that excuses the ignorant crap the spews from your rancid, cancerous, lipsticked pie hole.

Michele is also upset with the Supreme Court for its decision in 2013 to strike down the federal ban on same-sex marriage, terming it a “denial of equal protection for all Americans”, a bit of logic that only makes sense in Michele’s homophobic, backwards, illiterate mind.  I mean, yes, technically, they are words strung in a sentence, but…

“This is a revolution that we are encountering now. For all of the thousands of years of recorded human history, about 5,000 years, there is no instance of any culture, nation or tribe ever having as the established standard for marriage anything other than between man and woman. It may have been multiple women and a man, it may have been something like that, but it was always between men and women.”

Which means, Michele is okay with those ‘Sister Wives’ people, but not two men or two women in a committed, loving, monogamous relationship where they mow their lawns, go to church, and pay taxes.

You would think that would mean that ‘Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em’ Bachmann, is woman enough to own up to her hate-baiting ways, but, no, for she insists, less you think for one moment that she is not a good Christian woman, that her only desire is to, “spread goodness and joy and wholeness and healing … through a loving God with a message that frees people.”

Yeah, Michele, I got a middle finger that you can free anytime you want.

The only comfort that I take in relationship to you, Michele, is that you do not have a chance in hell of ever holding public office anywhere outside of that mecca of social dysfunction known as Anoka County, or, if the world has an ounce of self-worth, perhaps ever again. 

The other thing I am sure of?  That you are too far out there and ignorant for even the likes of Fox News, so there isn’t any chance of you gaining a glamorous national media pulpit unless you start up your own cable network, just as your sister in soul crimes, Sarah Palin, did this week.

I can’t wait to live in a world where there is no ‘Michele Bachmann’ news, no matter how cringe-inducingly entertaining the garbage that foams forth from your misinformed mouth.

So, dear readers, please, free your middle finger and join me as we give Michele the ‘Turdscooter of the Week’ salute, she so richly deserves.

Michele, honey?  Give it up.  Desperation is so unattractive.

Close your pie hole once and for all and fade from the national spotlight forever so good people, like yours truly won’t be tempted to wish upon you unspeakable, ghastly, gory vile (and, yet, oh-so justified) things.

Oh, and pick up a history book, or read a scientific journal.  Those things exist for a reason, you know. 

The world has evolved quite a bit since you went to Bible College, fool.

BTW: I plan on writing an ‘Evita’ –style musical about you someday.  Because you are tragic… in a totally different way.

Bob Eschliman: A Matter Of The Separation of Church and State

Bob Eschliman: 

A Matter Of The Separation of Church and State

This could get interesting…

From Newton, Iowa: another great reason to leave Iowa!

On the surface, it would seem very simple: company fires raging homophobe.  But if you dig just a bit deeper, you will see that this is something of a precedent setter.

Bob Eschliman the, now, former editor of the Newton Daily News, has filed a lawsuit claiming he is the victim of religious discrimination on the part of his former employers, Shaw Media, Inc.   The company fired Mr. Eschliman after he posted an editorial to his blog that was critical of what he referred to as “the Gaystopo” and “the LGBTQXYZ crowd” who are trying “to reword the Bible to make their sinful nature ‘right with God.’”

Bob got canned and then filed his lawsuit.  And it raises a lot of questions.

Was Bob being a hateful bigot, which I am sure, is against his employment agreement, or was he exercising his right to free speech?

You see, in the bulk of this country, gender-identity/sexual preference discrimination is still not held in the same light as the issues of race or gender.  People still think it’s okay to say nasty things and condemn people for being anything other than straight, just as some people still think it’s okay to say hateful things about women.  But throw the issue of race into the arena, and, with the exception of a limited amount of people identifying as white supremacists, the majority of people would agree that it is not cool to denigrate people because of the color of their skin.  If that were the issue in this case, I don’t think anyone would feel Mr. Eschliman termination was anything but just.

However, he’s using that book, ‘The Bible’, as a means of justifying his speech, claiming it to be religious in nature – which brings us to the crux of the problem.

This country was not founded on Christian values, as so many conservatives would like us all to believe. In fact, the exact opposite would seem to be true.  The founding fathers made it explicit that they wanted to avoid all this confusion

The lines separating church from state in this country became incredibly blurred back in the 1950’s during McCarthy’s ‘Red Scare’ period. The de facto motto of the United States back in 1782 was ‘E. Pluribus Unum’ (Out of man, one).  That was change in 1956 to “In God We Trust”, which was then added to our currency a year later.  The pledge of allegiance was re-written to include a reference to this same ‘God’ that same year.  All of this was done in reaction to the supposed threat of communism. 

The original constitution contained only one reference to religion, that being: “No religious test shall ever be required as qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”.

Which brings to mind the all those states with statutes stipulating that in order to run for public office, one must acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being. (Would Satan qualify?)  But that is another issue…

Will Mr. Eschliman prevail?

It would seem with the Supreme Court’s recent ‘Hobby Lobby’ decision that he might.

Which would be sad for those of us who are members of ‘the Gaystopo’, as we tend to resent being characterized as having a “sinful nature”. 

In this case, I hope that his homophobic blog posting is not the only reason Bob was fired.  People who hold a high profile job and don’t possess the common sense to keep their bigotry under wraps have a habit of bringing other less than enlightened issues to the office; let’s hope that’s the case with Bob.  Let’s also hope that Shaw Media, Inc. had enough savvy to place some kind of ‘anti-hate rant’ clause in Bob’s contract, because, you know, having a homophobe as the editor of one of their newspapers could very well reflect negatively on them and hurt their place in the market.

Which also brings to the surface a question journalistic in nature: should editors of media be held to higher standards?  Answer: well, obviously, of course not. 

Otherwise Fox News would not exist. 

Of course, if it wasn’t for the ‘Red Scare’ back in the fifties, Fox News probably wouldn’t exist anyway and people like Mr. Eschliman wouldn’t have a chance in hell (you know, that place where those people who believe in ‘The Bible’ believe Satan is the Supreme Being?). 

No, this is not the argument it would appear.  This is not a matter of a bigot vs. the gays. Or a matter of the right to employment.  Or the right to free speech.

Will the separation of church and state, as intended by our founding forefathers ever, truly be restored?

Acquired Tastes, XXXI: The Village People

Introduction:

Last week, while researching the previous chapter of the Acquired Tastes series (Gay Erotic Illustrations, XXXIV), I happened on an image that inspired this week’s topic.  The Google search had to do with ‘gay erotic cartoons’, and up popped an image of The Village People.  It was a cute cartoon version that presented the group members as ‘little people’, like something that ABC TV would have picked up for a Saturday morning cartoon show (can you imagine!).  The image spoke to me. One of the facets of The Village People is their image.  It’s iconic and originated as a visual representation of the people who populated the then relatively ‘unknown’ (by the general populace) underground gay club scene. 

The first album cover literally featured people from the street.  The group itself was formed after the first album had been released and only because it had struck a commercial cord right out of the box.  It was an image that launched a very (briefly) successful enterprise that continues to this day and whose impact regarding the acceptance of gay men and the gay lifestyle is still being sociologically quantified to this day.  Love them or hate them, their legacy is undeniable.

So, let’s look beyond the cheesy tired beats, the frequently lame lyrics, the clownish attire, the glitz, the glamour, the shtick, the kitsch, and examine the enduring appeal, historical relevance, and sociological impact of…

The Village People

Scope of Activity:

An appreciation for the music and cultural impact of this iconic music group; a group with strong ties to the gay community and the disco movement. 

The Official Line:

I was going to include the entry from Allmusic.com, but found it dismissive, poorly written, and inaccurate.  Instead:

From Wikipedia

The group was the creation of Jacques Morali, a French musical composer. He had written a few dance tunes (The Ritchie Family) when he was given a demo tape recorded by singer/actor Victor Willis. Morali approached Willis and told him, “I had a dream that you sang lead on my album and it went very, very big”. Willis agreed to sing on the first album, Village People.

It was a success, and demand for live appearances soon followed. Morali and his business partner, Henri Belolo (under the collaboration Can't Stop Productions) hastily built a group of dancers around Willis to perform in clubs and on Dick Clark's American Bandstand. As Village People's popularity grew, Morali, Belolo, and Willis saw the need for a permanent group. They took out an ad in a music trade magazine which read: ‘Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache.’

Morali met the first recruit, Felipe Rose (Native American), on the streets of Greenwich Village. Rose was a bartender who wore jingle bells on his boots. He was invited to take part in the sessions for the first album. Alex Briley (who started as an athlete, but eventually took on the soldier persona) was Willis's friend. The others, Mark Mussler (construction worker), Dave Forrest (cowboy), Lee Mouton (leather man) and Peter Whitehead (one of the group's early songwriters) appeared on American Bandstand and in the video for the group's first hit, ‘San Francisco (You Got Me)’. They were later replaced by David Hodo, Randy Jones and Glenn Hughes, who all had more experience as actors/singers/dancers. Hughes had first been spotted as a toll collector at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.

Because Morali could not speak English, songwriters Phil Hurtt and Peter Whitehead were brought in to write the lyrics for the first album. However, Willis wrote the lyrics to the group's biggest hits, including ‘Y.M.C.A.’, ‘Macho Man,’ ‘Go West’, and ‘In the Navy,’ and for other Can't Stop Productions acts such as Ritchie Family and Patrick Juvet. Likewise, Gypsy Lane (the Village People band) and their conductor, Horace Ott, provided much of the musical arrangements for Morali, who did not play any instruments.

The band's name refers to New York City's Greenwich Village, at the time known for its large gay population. Morali and Belolo decided to create a group of stereotypes based on the gay men of Greenwich Village, who often dressed in fantasy attire.

‘Macho Man’ brought them mainstream attention, and their 1978 recording ‘Y.M.C.A.’ became one of the most popular hits of the 1970s.

In 1979, the United States Navy decided to use ‘In the Navy’ in a television and radio recruiting campaign. Belolo offered them the rights for free if the Navy would help them film the music video. The Navy provided them access to the San Diego Navy base, where the USS Reasoner (FF-1063), several aircraft, and the crew of the ship would be used. The Navy canceled the campaign after a short time.

The group's fame peaked in 1979, when Village People made several appearances on The Merv Griffin Show and travelled with Bob Hope to entertain U.S. troops. They were also featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, Vol. 289, April 19, 1979. Willis left the group at the end of an international tour in 1979, and a decline in popularity followed.

Ray Simpson, brother of Valerie Simpson (of Ashford & Simpson), replaced Willis for the group's highly anticipated 1980 feature film Can't Stop the Music, directed by Nancy Walker, written by Allan Carr and Bronte Woodard, music and lyrics by Jacques Morali (although Willis penned the lyrics to ‘Milkshake’ and ‘Magic Night’) and starred Steve Guttenberg, Valerie Perrine, Jean-Claude Billmaer, Bruce Jenner, and Village People. By the time it was released, however, disco had waned and the movie won the Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay prizes at the 1980 Golden Raspberry Awards in March 1981 and was nominated in almost all the other categories. The movie itself has since become a cult favorite, developing a worldwide fan base.

The group was one of the featured guests on a November 22, 1980 episode of Love Boat, (7th episode of season 4), entitled ‘Secretary to the Stars/Julie's Decision/The Horse Lover/Gopher and Isaac Buy a Horse’. At the end of 1980, cowboy Randy Jones left the group and was replaced by Jeff Olson.

In 1981, with the popularity of disco having faded and New Wave music on the rise, Village People replaced its on-stage costumes with a new look inspired by the New Romantic movement, and released the New Wave album Renaissance. It only attracted minor, mostly negative attention and produced no hits.

Victor Willis returned to the group briefly in late 1981 for the album Fox on the Box, which was released in 1982 only in Europe but did have limited release in the United States in 1983 under the title In the Street. Miles Jaye had briefly taken over for Ray Simpson as lead singer by 1983 and contributed an extra track to In the Street. Mark Lee replaced David Hodo in 1982.

Their last album containing new material, the 1985 dance/Hi-NRG release Sex Over the Phone, was not a huge commercial success. The title track, when released as a single, was banned by the BBC because of its content.  In recent years, ‘Sex Over the Phone’ has become a cult classic. Recently, an Associated Press declared ‘Sex Over the Phone’ to be the “Citizen Kane of music videos.”  The album featured yet another new lead singer, Ray Stephens (of The Great Space Coaster fame).

In 1985, the group took a hiatus, but reunited in 1987 with the line-up of Randy Jones, David Hodo, Felipe Rose, Glenn Hughes, Alex Briley and Ray Simpson.

Psychological Aspects:

In the days before The Village People, gay people were simply not talked about all that much or acknowledged except in the large metropolitan areas - such as San Francisco, Greenwich Village, and the like.  In those locales, gay people existed in numbers large enough to be able to organize, mobilize, and have their voices heard.  But for Middle America, gay people remained an anomaly. Middle America viewed gay people on the coasts as ‘other’.  They also categorized them as a fringe population full of deviants. 

Sex, to this day, remains a powerful divider.  People are uncomfortable with it and particularly the notion of gay sex.  Gay sex is inexorably intertwined and identified with gay people. When people reject gay people, it’s not necessarily because of the gay person, but because of the sex associated with the concept of ‘being gay’.  This is why we continue to have issues with gaining acceptance for gay marriage.  When people who are not gay consider the issue, they focus on the sexual aspects and the possible implicit validation of such sexual practices.  They do not focus on the people, their capacity to love, or their need for societal validation.  Their fear of the sexual component cancels out their ability to be fair.

So, maybe it’s time The Village People make a comeback in a big way.

Well, think about it: if you want to take the fear out of something, boil that something down and create a cartoon version that is easily digestible.  The Village People accomplished just that back in the late ‘70’s.  The sloganism in their music helped further that cause.  It was simple, inoffensive, easily digestible music that was not in the slightest way, scary.   In a way, they were the perfect propaganda machine to invade the airwaves and homes of America; which is exactly what they did.

What Stonewall accomplished locally?  In a way, The Village People were able to do globally.

That’s the power of image.  And that is at the heart of the legacy of The Village People.

My Experience:

My youngest sister, two years my junior, had a copy of the third album; the one with ‘Y.M.C.A.’  She was fascinated by them and eventually would incorporate the concept of them while playing with her Barbie dolls.  Ken was the construction worker.  Action Jackson (mine) was the leather dude.  Johnny West (mine) was, of course, the cowboy (Jane, his rather mannish wife, did not approve).  Johnny’s friend, Geronimo (mine) was, of course, the Native American and my Allan doll, which I had given her quite some time ago, was the lead singer.

To put the state of her musical tastes at that time into perspective, the other ‘loves’ of her life included Sean Cassidy and Barry Manilow.  In a way, I had a healthy respect for all three musical entities (success = respect), but kept my distance.  While I appreciated the pop appeal of what all three were doing, and the songwriting of Barry Manilow, in particular, it was not the sort of thing that I could admit to liking.  My musical life at the time was all about The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, David Bowie’s ‘Low’ and ‘Heroes’, Robert Fripp, Peter Gabriel, Rufus and Chaka Khan, and whatever else my musically adventurous best friend happened to suggest.

At the time, not only was I in a ‘rock band’, but I was also DJing high school dances. For middle schoolers, I would dig into my two youngest sister’s collections, and ‘Y.M.C.A’ was always a dance floor filler. 

I didn’t realize there was such a thing as a gay community until I saw the Village People’s first album cover.  Sad as the thought is, I didn’t learn about Stonewall until I gained unlimited access to the internet.  It wasn’t taught in school as a part of history.  Women studies?  Yes. But nothing about the liberation of gay people or the existence of a community.

 

I remember the first time I saw a Village People’s album.  It was their first album and if I remember correctly it was while going through the racks at J.C. Penny – a ritual I performed at every store I entered.  While fascinated by the image, I also knew I couldn’t be seen actually looking at it.  It felt like porn, something I was also fairly unfamiliar with at the time, but could properly identify when the opportunity arose. 

Growing up in the Midwest, I lived in a community where the word ‘gay’ was only hurled as an insult.  ‘Those people’ all lived elsewhere and were never talked about. And I know this is hard to believe, but when discussing The Village People and their music, I don’t recall anyone – ever - talking about them in terms of being ‘gay’. Not even on television. They were entertainers.  Flamboyant. Costumed characters as harmless as comic book heroes.  You see, in my community’s collective mind and way of thinking, one could not be a successful entertainer and be homosexual; the latter canceled out the former.  Being a homosexual was a one-way-ticket to failure.  This was brought home to me repeatedly by the head of my school’s drama department.  If I wanted to be taken seriously as an actor, I couldn’t be ‘like that’. 

Somehow that translated to: The Village People are not really gay.  They are actors.  They are performers.  So, it was okay to listen to them and do that stupid ‘Y.M.C.A.’ dance.  Participating in this group activity was good, clean fun: the polar opposite of ‘gay’.  I mean, they were on American Bandstand, for chriss sake!  If Dick Clark’s sanitized seal of approval did not mean they were wholesome enough for mass consumption, then I don’t know what country we were living in. 

Yep, The Village People were consumed in the Midwest without any acknowledgement of what they really represented. We collectively turned a blind eye to the founding ideals at the core of the group and what they represented.  We enjoyed them as the novelty act we assumed they were.  I think that same attitude is true, in general, when examining the acceptance of disco in Middle America.  We appreciated the energy, the beats, and, ignorant of its true origins, saw it as nothing more than a harmless fad. Considering the ‘not-on-the-radar’ attitude toward gay people adopted by most of the people I came in contact with, that is not surprising.  Yes, gay people existed, but not in the Midwest.  And not on television.  Or in the movies. 

So, it’s not surprising that whenever The Village People and their music came into focus, I died a little inside.  Guilt by association, I guess.  And also, simple embarrassment.  While I was attracted by the flaunting of their sexual selves, it also made me cringe.  It struck me as crude and cartoonish.  If this was what being gay was then I wanted no part of it.  And yet, the image on that first album, remained alluring seductive, worming its way into my adolescent psyche. Something about it, beyond its potent sexuality, resonated.  Perhaps it was the sense of community that was at the heart of Jacques’ original vision that spoke to me.

As the group grew in popularity, they became less threatening and more cartoon-like.  The gay icons simply became accepted stereotypes, sanitized and homogenized for mass consumption.  Gay underground warriors reduced to show biz bullshit.  It was sad, but hardly surprising.  Did anyone really buy David Hodo as a construction worker?  And while Randy Jone’s mustache was right on the mark, was he really the gay cowboy of anybody’s dreams? And Alex Briley, tall and thin, was not what sprung to my mind when it came to ‘military might’.  Even Glenn Hughes was reduced to cuddly teddy bear, rather than the menacing dominant leather man he was meant to represent.  Only Felipe Rose’s Native American seemed remotely sexual, and that was only due to his skimpy costume and bountiful show of skin.

I reviewed some videos of the group at their peak.  There’s something grotesquely amateurish about the choreography, both in its design and execution.  But, hey, this is the ‘70’s we’re talking about.  Leisure suits were a recent thing.  Polyester (the kind that didn’t breathe) was still king.  Smarmy (Burt Reynolds) was considered ‘hot’.  So razor sharp perfection and execution was not a given, hell, it wasn’t expected at all. That said, the choreography is pretty lame, especially considering this is what these dudes did for a living.  But maybe it was designed that way on purpose; kept simple so everyone could be a village person!

It’s that same amateurishness that sank their swansong, Can’t Stop the Music.  Not only was disco on the wane and being forced underground once more, but adding to the film’s problems is its home movie like quality and poor editing.  I realize that Nancy Walker was a first time director.  I’ve heard the rumors about the set being a cocaine-fueled romp.  And I know the script and music were ‘slight’, to say the least.  I place this film in the same bin that ‘Xanadu’ goes in… a bad idea whose time had come and gone before its release date arrived.  

Oh, these boys were so NOT ‘Ready for the 80’s’

Take The Village People’s attempt at rebirth: 1981’s Renaissance.  I bought a copy for a dollar out of a cut-out bin at Woolworth’s in 1984.  I immediately became enamored with the would-be single, ‘5 O’Clock in The Morning’.  I still think it’s a great song.  I believe the dude from Toto had a hand in that track, which helps explain the song’s relative sophistication, especially when compared to the rest of the album.  The rest of the album?  I would go so far as to declare tracks like ‘Big Mac’, ‘Diet’, ‘Food Fight’, and the like - dire.   

• Interesting Fact: Not all the members were gay.
• Interesting Fact: Group members still insist that their music is not gay. (Really.)
• Fun Fact:  Bruce Villanche wrote most of the lyrics for The V.P.’s album, Sex Over the Phone. I have never heard it but am curious as hell.  I’d also like to hear all of their post-success releases.

Yes, they released a few more albums after Renaissance.  They even toured as Cher’s opening act on her ‘Farewell’ tour But for all intents and purposes by the end of 1979, the bloom was off the Rose (get it), and The Village People were reduced to one-hit wonder status (despite having had three major hits).

I went so far as to buy a greatest hits collection in the early 2000’s.   I’ll be honest, the music’s appeal still escapes me and I am a HUGE fan of disco.  But then, sloganism, which I think is a category most of their music fits into, has never appealed to me.  I think that’s why I like ‘5 O’Clock in the Morning’; it had atmosphere, a couple hooks, and a story - a description that pretty much sums up the career of the Village People themselves as well.  Yes, they had atmosphere, a couple of hooks, and a story. 

And a purpose; one they accomplished quite well.

My Conclusion:

So maybe their music didn’t have all that much impact on the music world.  Maybe it can be easily dismissed as inconsequential fluff.   But the same certainly cannot be said of their impact on society as a whole. 

Yes, love them or hate them… we must give credit where credit is due.  To this day, The Village People continue to serve as ambassadors for the gay community.

Keep that in mind at the next high school reunion or wedding dance you attend, and realize that when the DJ breaks out ‘Y.M.C.A.’, hackneyed as it may seem – all those fools out there dancing? 

They’re dancing a dance that truly spells: gay liberation!

In the Navy

Y.M.C.A.

Macho Man

Sex Over the Phone

Go West

Movie Trailer for 'Can't Stop The Music'