From YMCA to Bloom: charting the evolution of the gay anthem

As Pride celebrations kick off around the UK, we track how pop has reflected four decades of social changeThree iconic gay anthems turn 40 this year: Sylvester’s You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive and the Village People’s YMCA. Although these songs are ancient in pop terms, their tropes continue to play out in 2018. The 2009 book Queer by Simon Gage, Lisa Richards and Howard Wilmot lists 10 thematic criteria for gay anthems: “a big-voiced diva&