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'I hate gay Halloween:' How queer people's creative, niche costumes became the funniest new meme
What do you mean you're Chappell Roan and a passenger seat?!?
So what exactly is "Gay Halloween?"
Alright, someone's gotta ask, what the hell is "Gay Halloween" and why is it so niche?
It's no secret that gays love Halloween, and often spend way too much time, effort, and money on costumes that no average person will understand unless they are explained.
This year, that includes going as Chappell Roan and a passenger seat, the Blue Pikmin saying "im f*g?" meme, the school lockers from Bottoms, or a specific shot of Charli xcx on a treadmill in the "360" music video.
But where did this tradition come from? Why do gays love being so extra? And why do they love to be even more extra on Halloween?
Fashion is a great way to express yourself, and on Halloween, there are no rules!
Once you put on your costume, you're allowed to act out of character, and you can express yourself in ways you might've been afraid to before.
If a boy wants to dress up as a cat from Cats or the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, he can. If a man wants to dress a woman, he can. If you want to dress as a flamboyant Disney villain like Ursula or Captain Hook, you're allowed to, and you're allowed to act as over the top as they do!
Many people (both queer and cishet) dress in drag or crossdress for Halloween. Whether you're trans or gay or gender nonconforming, having fun with the way you dress can be a great way to explore how you feel about gender, sexuality, and self.
As a trans woman, the first time I dressed as a woman in front of other people was at a Halloween party. So were the next several times. Eventually, I came out as trans following my third year in a row dressing as a woman. My story is far from unique.
For many gays, pop culture references are also a type of shibboleth for the culture. Oh, you've seen every episode of The L Word? You can quote the Nicole Kidman AMC theater commercial bar-for-bar? You know every scene from Madonna's "Like a Prayer" video? That's such gay culture!
Sharing niche pop culture references has long been a way to signal that you're gay without having to come out and say it.
This has been a part of gay culture as long as gays have been culturing. In England from the 19th century to the 1970s, gay men and actors would use the language Polari, which incorporated Italian, Cockney Rhyming Slang, and Yiddish, to make a new language exclusive to gay men.
In the U.S., a popular phrase used to ask if someone was gay in the mid-twentieth century was "are you a friend of Dorothy?" in reference to the film The Wizard of Oz.
If you got this cultural reference, you were seen as safe. Now, gays are doing the same thing, but this time with the tennis ball POV shot from Challengers.Pop culture will always be an important part of queer culture. Often, seeing a queer or queer-coded character in a book, television, movie, or on stage is the first time a queer person will recognize who and what they are.
If you grow up in a community where you don't know or see queer people, you might have to dive deep into pop culture to find people you can relate to.
It might not even be an obvious reference. Maybe the first time you felt seen was when you saw a niche meme from an early season of Real Housewives. Maybe the first time you felt seen was when you saw a queer side character in one episode of Law and Order. These references are valid, and make great Halloween costumes!Many queers go all-out on Halloween, sewing, gluing, paper macheing, and 3D printing to get the most beautiful and complex costume they can get.
Fashion is another world that queers have long led, and a holiday like Halloween is perfect because it specifically asks people to stretch their fashion bona fides.
Whether you're picking out the most stylish costume or making it yourself, Halloween is a great way to show off your fashion skills.
Halloween has also become even bigger for the gays as the years have gone on, with many calling it "Gay Christmas."
Many of the reasons I've listed here have come together to build Halloween up in the minds and hearts of gays across the country. While Pride Month is technically already our big holiday, we decided that we wanted another one. Christians get Christmas and Easter, don't they? Patriots get 4th of July and Veterans Day. We deserve two holidays!
Now that you know a little bit about the history of Gay Halloween, it's time for you to go and make your own super obscure costume and explain it over and over again at every party you go to!
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
