The history of Halloween: From Celtic ftival to gay Christmas

Contents:

• WHY HALLOWEEN IS 'GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS
• WHY HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS
• WHY FOR SOME LGBT+ PEOPLE, HALLOWEEN IS THE GAY CHRISTMAS
• WHY HALLOWEEN IS A.K.A. “GAY CHRISTMAS”
• GAY CHRISTMAS: THE QUEER HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN
• HALLOWEEN, AKA GAY CHRISTMAS: A SPECIAL HOLIDAY FOR LGBTIQ+
• LEE SUCKLG: WHY HALLOWEEN IS THE UNOFFICIAL GAY CHRISTMAS
• HALLOWEEN AS GAY CHRISTMAS
• HALLOWEEN IS THE GAYT HOLIDAY — AND EVERYONE IS FALLY CATCHG UP
• HOW HALLOWEEN BEME A GAY HOLIDAY
• GAY CHRISTMAS
• HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS’ FOR MANY THE LGBTQ MUNY. THIS YEAR, HAS BEEN NCELED.
• HALLOWEEN IS GAY CHRISTMAS MUGS
• THE FASCATG HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN: HOW AN ANCIENT FTIVAL GAVE BIRTH TO GAY CHRISTMAS
• HALLOWEEN IS GAY CULTURE AND SO IS THE BABADOOK

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.

WHY HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS' TO MANY LGBTQ AMERINS

"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. It is time for Halloween; known to the LGBTQ+ muny as Gay Christmas!

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

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.

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

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

GAY CHRISTMAS: THE QUEER HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN

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.

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

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. 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 reprents an important pot: the transn om Gay Christmas to Regular Christmas.

LEE SUCKLG: WHY HALLOWEEN IS THE UNOFFICIAL GAY CHRISTMAS

This is for those who have ever stopped to wonr why ’s lled Gay Christmas. " Photo / Getty ImagOPINION:Halloween is gay Christmas. Halloween might be gay Christmas, but 's send only to real Christmas for kids, too, and we n't ny them of that.

Gay people jt love Halloween now, don’t we?

The holiday should be a fun and safe time for ALL of , and sce 's officially here, here are some of the big do's and don’ts of Halloween (which might as well also be known as Gay Christmas). And everybody, fai wh toddlers and granni go to Castro, the famo gay neighbourhood.

HALLOWEEN AS GAY CHRISTMAS

The 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. Firstly, 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.

On any other day of the year, gay bars were routely raid and shut down. When the California Supreme Court led 1951 that gays and lbians had a right to assemble and bars uld not be closed simply for servg “known homosexuals, ” ci got around the lg by passg a seri of laws tend to harass the gay bars.

Lbians and gays uld be arrted not only for havg sex but even for kissg, or dancg together, or holdg hands. 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.

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

For one night every year, s before the Stonewall Rts and the very first gay pri paras, gays and lbians uld feel ee. 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. 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.

HOW HALLOWEEN BEME A GAY HOLIDAY

And of urse, clud l that had to do wh "sexual perversns, " which heavily applied to homosexualy on screen. 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. Give me your fearsome ghouls and your flamg gays, your slutty zombi and your zany queens, for is time for Halloween.

GAY CHRISTMAS

Still thk our "liftyle" is to blame for all that's wrong wh the Dallas, Texas, I easily fet how odd I am to some people simply bee I am gay. (If we show those ghouls a good time, you never know who might jt stay gay town permanently.

Contributg edor Tyler Curry is also edor at large at Pl magaze, the thor of A Peack Among Pigeons, and a gay man livg wh HIV. So how did Halloween bee a gay holiday?

HALLOWEEN IS ‘GAY CHRISTMAS’ FOR MANY THE LGBTQ MUNY. THIS YEAR, HAS BEEN NCELED.

Halloween is often referenced as the Gay Christmas. But I do unrstand why Christmas may not be a favore among gays.

two very gay ways: Its sensibily and s history. Halloween is herently gay.

HALLOWEEN IS GAY CHRISTMAS MUGS

It’s faiar, a way, sce gay people. Before the neighbourhood was famoly known as a gay district, the area was. The reason beg that a gay bar opened the neighborhood.

THE FASCATG HISTORY OF HALLOWEEN: HOW AN ANCIENT FTIVAL GAVE BIRTH TO GAY CHRISTMAS

the village were urped by gay men and, by the end of the ‘70s, queer pri. But the gays weren’t havg . Today, we ntue to celebrate this very gay.

Gay Christmas is jt another name for Halloween.

HALLOWEEN IS GAY CULTURE AND SO IS THE BABADOOK

Lots LGBT folk I have a special nnectn to this holiday bee ’s one day a year where you n drs up and there is no boundari between straight, gay and bary sex.