YMCA Scotland reposted this
Leader of Global Youth Movement. Passionate about building the resilience of young people and communities
A number of YMCAs around the world have been asking me about the use of the Village People’s 1970s anthem ‘YMCA’ at big partisan and political events, concerned that our name is being associated with political causes. The YMCA itself of course has no rights over the song: we have nothing to do with who uses it and why, even though of course millions of people may associate us with it. Across over 100 countries and in over 10,000 communities worldwide, we are not a political organization, but our values will always be seen as ‘small-p’ political. The song itself is often seen as a celebration of diversity, unity and joy, and this may or may not be why people choose to use it. Many others have used and enjoyed the song, whether consciously embracing its values or not. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗬𝗠𝗖𝗔 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗴, despite all the associations, of any description, with that great disco tune. Our YMCA vision is a world where every person lives in harmony with self, with society and with creation. Our YMCA mission is to empower young people and communities worldwide to build a 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲, 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, where every person can thrive in body, mind and spirit. We are not for any political leader anywhere. To take the words of another leader, Mahatma Gandhi, we are for empowering young people and communities to be and to lead the change they want to see. We pray for and we work for that better world.