Halloween gay
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Consider attending a queer-themed Halloween event in your area and join in the celebration of self-expression and identity. It was believed that during Samhain, fairies and the spirits of ancestors could cross through the barrier between the underworld and our world. Check out the schedule for a showing near you. Worse, 32-year-old waiter Robert Kerns was fatally stabbed in his home after returning there with someone from Polk Street, still donning the ball gown he’d been wearing during the celebrations.
As Polk Street became more violent and a less-welcoming environment for the gay community, Halloween celebrations moved from Polk Gulch to The Castro district.
In fact, Halloween’s evolution into a celebration of queer expression, freedom, and community has deep roots dating back to the early 20th century. Drag, with its celebration of transformation and theatrical exaggeration, fits Halloween’s spirit perfectly. This year, 2023, marks the first Halloween in the Castro event since 2007, with a focus on family friendly activities from the daytime to early-evening, a far cry from the celebration of LGBTQ2S+ existence that it once was.
Today, many LGBTQ2S+ Halloween celebrations have moved away from the streets and into bars and private venues.
Halloween, by contrast, offers a sense of belonging on our own terms.
Chosen family — the close friends and community members who become our support systems — often gather for Halloween parties, costume contests, or movie marathons that feel as meaningful as any family tradition.
It’s a time to be seen, celebrated, and surrounded by people who affirm you.
Joy as Resistance
Underneath the glitter and theatrics, the phrase “Gay Christmas” carries power. It’s the day when who you are and who you want to be merge together under the glow of flickering jack-o’-lantern lights.
Wondering how this spooky celebration morphed into a massive event for the LGBTQ+ community? It’s a night to embrace everything that makes us different — and to remind the world that authenticity, in all its colors and costumes, is something worth celebrating.
So this year, whether you’re in a wig, a cape, or something entirely unclassifiable, remember: this holiday has always been ours.
Forget New Year’s or Pride—when it comes to being your most fabulous and fearless self, Halloween reigns supreme as the ultimate queer holiday.
While some Fantasy Fest events are family-friendly, many cater to adults who are up for some daring fun. This culminated in 2006 with a tragic mass shooting that left nine people wounded. We hope that nobody experiences discrimination or homophobia while visiting Florida and beyond, but we make no guarantees.
And it will likely stay that way for decades – perhaps even centuries – to come.
Last Updated:
October 26, 2023
Halloween – The LGBTQ+ “Gay Christmas”
The journey of Halloween becoming “Gay Christmas” within the LGBTQ+ community is a long one with countless twists and turns.
Read on to find out!
A history of gay Halloween celebrations
In the November 1, 1907 of The Pittsburgh Press, an article described “girls who had donned male attire” being arrested for their transgression against gender norms — or as the article describes it, “appeared at the Central police station and took their medicine.” In 1913, police once again arrested both “women in men’s clothes” and “three boys who were making carly appearances in feminine costumes.” It wasn’t until 1914 that Pittsburgh police announced they would not arrest women wearing men’s clothing — unless, of course, they were “disorderly or are seen entering saloons.” (Notably, there was no such affordance given to boys in feminine costumes.) While there’s of course no way to know whether these individuals identified as LGBTQ2S+, one thing is clear: they were being punished solely for their transgressions against sexual and gender norms.
Following the historic Stonewall riots in 1969, public consciousness of the LGBTQ2S+ community quickly grew, and celebrations of them began to appear in public life — including Halloween.
Today, the Village Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, New York — the same neighbourhood in which the Stonewall riots occurred — is the world’s largest Halloween parade, attracting over 50,000 costumed participants and 2 million spectators a year.
(And if you’re already doing that anyway, Halloween gives you an excuse to turn the dial up to 11.)
What’s the history that led to Halloween’s status as the de facto LGBTQ2S+ holiday? The Celts celebrating Samhain would dress up as monsters and animals in the hopes of avoiding being kidnapped by fairies, leading to the tradition of Halloween costumes that continues to this day.
OK, sure, interesting history.
Happy Halloween!
Much like Christmas, Halloween for the LGBTQ+ community carries its own rituals — elaborate costume planning, gatherings with chosen family, themed parties, and a shared sense of belonging.
During World War II in the 1940’s, the U.S. military discharged thousands of servicemen for being gay, many of whom settled in and around San Francisco. While Christmas is heavily tied to tradition and blood family, Halloween is all about transgression, and allows us to choose who we want to spend time with.
Both Christmas and Halloween have their roots in pagan holidays.
For queer people, often navigating worlds where conformity is expected, Halloween’s celebration of the dramatic, the different, and the daring feels deeply affirming.
Activism and Pride in Costume
With the rise of LGBTQ+ rights movements, Halloween also became a platform for visibility and activism.