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The Village People Will Not Block Trump From Using Their Music

Donald Trump in a dip with The Village People.

Remember when Rihanna issued a cease and desist over the same thing? An ally!

MikelleStreet

In case you haven't heard, Donald Trump has been soundtracking his rallies and appearances with some iconic gay tracks. We aren't just talking buzzy pop tracks that the gays have adopted, no we mean Village People gay. Like gay-gay.

On Monday, when Trump was in India he attended a rally of apparently 130,000 people in Sardar Patel Stadium. And for his entrance music, the Deplorable-in-Chief walked out to the 1978 track "Macho Man." Yeah, like gay-gay! It was understandably a disorienting experience for many, given how closely associated the track is with the LGBTQ+ community, and importantly, how Trump and his administration have actively worked against this very community.

Some fans took it upon themselves to contact the band in hopes that they would bar Trump from using the song. If they did they would join the likes of Queen, Adele and Aerosmith. Rihanna notably issued a cease and desist after finding out on Twitter that Trump was using her song "Don't Stop the Music."

"Currently, Rihanna's 'Don't Stop the Music' is blaring in Chattanooga as aides toss free Trump T-shirts into the crowd, like a ball game," a Washington Post reporter tweeted. "Everyone's loving it."

Rihanna saw the tweet and responded to it. "Not for much longer," she wrote. ""Me nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies, so thanks for the heads up Philip!"

Well now, The Village People have made their decision.

"We have received numerous requests demanding that we prevent or ban President Donald Trump's use of our songs, particularly 'Y.M.C.A.' and 'Macho Man,'" they wrote to Facebook. "Since our music is not being used for a specific endorsement, the president's use is 'perfect[ly]' legal.

"He has remained respectful in his use of our songs and has not crossed the line," they continued. "If he or any other candidate were to use any of our songs in a manner that would suggest our endorsement, or in a promotional advertisement, that would cross the line." Well that's disappointing.

"Our music is all-inclusive and certainly everyone is entitled to do the Y.M.C.A. dance, regardless of their political affiliation," they wrote. "Having said that, we certainly don't endorse his use as we'd prefer our music be kept out of politics."

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Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.