Ha. That implies that Trump would ever pay him anything.

I cried all the way to the bank

Liberace after winning a libel suit against a news paper calling him a homosexual

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace_v_Daily_Mirror

Selling out. It's the American way.

"You have to understand, I'm set up to make millions from this song"

You'll come to find many people you would have never suspected are OK with fascism, when it makes them rich.

Where is he learning his songs from?

The oracle has spoken

My brother and I both became obsessed with I Will Survive around the age of 10/11. He's a full decade older than me, and our parents still don't understand why that happened with either of us. He's straight, I'm gay. Gloria Gaynor is just amazing in general, and while we gays have claimed her (and her us), her music could, should, and hopefully will be appreciated by all.

I Am What I Am is just straight up queer, though. No reclaiming that one for straight folk. Gayest song ever, and it's wonderful. Lol.

“As a straight member of a gay band, I totally didn’t get the point of the gay song I wrote for my gay band”

I hate him saying "get your mind out of the gutter" as if even thinking about people who are gay is itself a perverted sexual act.

Gay people exist. Acknowledging this and discussing whether a piece of media is directed at them is not "mind in gutter" stuff.

I don't want to go so far as to say this person is homophobic, but it sure does sound like some internalized homophobia, perhaps.

I can reluctantly believe that is true (despite the laughable first paragraph where he gives example after example about why such "assumptions" are reasonable) - but he's old enough to know that once an artist puts art out into the world, their interpretation of it is no longer the only one.

The song IS a gay anthem even if it wasn't written that way.

edit - they the

"I Will Survive"?

Not anymore, we're doing HOT TO GO now!

He does, but it can also be things like reputation damage or "the fascists stopped paying for my song because they thought it was gay".

I mean, Liberace sued for libel and won after a news outlet accused of him of being gay:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberace_v_Daily_Mirror

The thing is, you're looking at it from 2024 eyes. 46 years ago, it was very definitely a gay video, especially when you throw in things that have been forgotten like the 1970's gay mustache. It wasn't really until Magnum PI that straight men reclaimed the mustache.

🎶 IN THE NAVY 🎶 ^(no-homo)^

Yes. If you weren't aware, the YMCA was a very common meeting/cruising place for gay men back in the day. The YMCA used to be known for providing cheap food and housing, so it attracted a lot of dudes to come stay there and some of them were gay. Gay bars weren't really a thing for the most part, so other places like the YMCA became the default. It's even more convenient if you already happen to live there.

As early as 1919, the YMCA was already a common cruising spot for both members of the US military and civilians. Some guy went up to FDR (Assistant Secretary of the Navy at the time) and was like "Want me to catch some of the gay dudes in the Navy?" When FDR approved, the Navy sent undercover twinks to the YMCA in Newport, Rhode Island to fuck a bunch dudes and report back like, "Yep, they were gay. I know because we fucked." Pretty shitty, since the result was a court-martial and some people ended up getting sent to naval prison or dishonorably discharged (a few were found not guilty). The investigators rarely expressed any objection to the sexual acts in their reports, either, so it's a little messed up that they'd get dudes in trouble for fucking by fucking them. I can still find an element of humor, though, in the fact that the US Navy was cool with sending specifically young, good-looking dudes to honeypot sailors into boning as a means of investigation all the way back in 1919. It was known as the Newport sex scandal if you want to read more.