Why Halloween is a.k.a. “Gay Christmas” | The Gayly

Contents:

• WHY HALLOWEEN IS 'GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS
• GAY CHRISTMAS: THE QUEER HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
• WHY HALLOWEEN IS A.K.A. “GAY CHRISTMAS”
• WHY HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS
• HALLOWEEN, AKA GAY CHRISTMAS: A SPECIAL HOLIDAY FOR LGBTIQ+
• GAY PARTI & EVENTS
• WHY FOR SOME LGBT+ PEOPLE, HALLOWEEN IS THE GAY CHRISTMAS
• HALLOWEEN IS THE GAYT HOLIDAY — AND EVERYONE IS FALLY CATCHG UP

WHY HALLOWEEN IS 'GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS

"Merrie cherryAn extravaganza of the supernatural, all thgs sweet and larger-than-life stum, many LGBTQ Amerins like Roberts hail Halloween as "gay Christmas. " But the ntemporary excement around the supernatural holiday has a long history wh the LGBTQ morn phrase "gay Christmas" actually stems om an earlier queer nickname for the holiday, "bch Christmas, " acrdg to Marc Ste, a profsor of history at San Francis State Universy, and thor of "Cy of Sisterly and Brotherly Lov.

"Durg the 1950s and '60s, Philalphia's LGBTQ muny celebrated "bch Christmas" by drsg up drag and partyg the cy's gay bars, Ste said. "Followg the wave of LGBTQ activism and visibily sparked by the 1969 Stonewall rts, more formal versns of queer Halloween celebratns began poppg up "gayborhoods" around the untry. " As a gay man, he scribed Halloween as one of the only tim a year growg up when he was not "ostracized or punished or cricized for havg the flamboyant, creative tennci.

There’s no gettg around — om outrageo makp and mp stum to unbridled self-exprsn, Halloween is undoubtedly gay. But while may seem obv today how the LGBTQ+ muny me to embrace what many have labeled “Gay Christmas, ” this distctn wasn’t so clear om the start.

GAY CHRISTMAS: THE QUEER HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

While San Francis had bee a gay haven durg the 1940s and 50s, the Castro remaed predomantly Irish Catholic.

WHY HALLOWEEN IS A.K.A. “GAY CHRISTMAS”

As fai started movg out to the suburbs, gay men moved , followg the gay bars and bs that had opened the area.

The once-children’s ftival found self morphg to a street party for the area’s gay populatn. Siar wild, queer Halloween celebratns arose the gay enclav of ci like Wt Hollywood, New York, and Key Wt.

It’s no wonr, then, that Halloween’s gay inty has only bee stronger today, wh newer LGBTQ+ artists releasg spooky, Halloween-spired hs to aid this transformatn.

WHY HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS

The mixtape almost begs to be played at any and every party this Gay Christmas, wh s mpy vib, club ambience, and appearance of Elvira, mabre entertaer and horror hero of the gay muny. In many ways, Turn Off the Light, is like the culmatn of a half-century long procs, a thartic embodiment of Halloween’s very gay history. It is time for Halloween; known to the LGBTQ+ muny as Gay Christmas!

HALLOWEEN, AKA GAY CHRISTMAS: A SPECIAL HOLIDAY FOR LGBTIQ+

It wouldn't surprise me if were a homosexual who started the trend of wearg stum and ratg to celebrate Halloween. I know that bee I was a young gay who wore a drs to school on Halloween long before the current levels of acceptance had pervad society. That act to me as an outsir was one of extreme urage, but for that young gay boy wearg a drs to school, was an act of liberatn gettg him closer to beg out of the closet.

Copyright The Gayly. It reprents an important pot: the transn om Gay Christmas to Regular Christmas. This is for those who have ever stopped to wonr why ’s lled Gay Christmas.

GAY PARTI & EVENTS

Our gay events gui ntas a full round-up of the biggt and. I was dog my typil TikTok scroll one day, and the sound of Jsi Lange's famo voice sayg, "That's what gays do! Even though Dty isn't known to speak tths about the "gays, " the latter part of her statement do rg te for a lot of people the LGBTQ+ muny.

But, for a lot of queer people, there's fely some accuracy to the notn that "Halloween is for the gays.

WHY FOR SOME LGBT+ PEOPLE, HALLOWEEN IS THE GAY CHRISTMAS

In fact, 's known as "Gay Christmas" bee of how popular is for queer people. A holiday wh no nnectn to relign is very attractive; mak sense to dub Halloween "the great gay holiday, " as lbian poet and thor Judy Grahn once lled .

Halloween Drag Balls and queer Halloween bash make up more of the gay history surroundg Halloween, but that didn't always translate to the greater narrative, nor did ntribute much reprentatn of queer people horror movi.

And of urse, clud l that had to do wh "sexual perversns, " which heavily applied to homosexualy on screen.

HALLOWEEN IS THE GAYT HOLIDAY — AND EVERYONE IS FALLY CATCHG UP

Jt like a lot of movi and TV did, horror implemented the e of the "Bury Your Gays" trope whenever there was a queer character on screen. Sexualy was often a reason behd the aths and a major parallel to an outsi world that already vilified homosexualy. You've got your gay ins like The Babadook — whose "fiant" act of terrorizg an Atralian fay stuted him as a queer meme — or the homoerotic relatnship between Billy and Stu Scream.

Then there's Ltat and Louis Interview Wh a Vampire, who not only uld be terpreted as gay if the viewer sired but also troduced a fay un ma up of two men and a child. Wh the uple spendg 13 years together and Dani sacrificg herself for the betterment of others, she don't fall to the "Bury Your Gays" trope. When this holiday around, "the most wonrful time of year" tak on a whole new meang for the gays.