This Halloween, a new trend has taken over social media: Gay Halloween. If it hasn’t popped up on your feed yet, this is the latest wave in queer culture where people—predominantly within the LGBTQ+ community—are showing off their most niche, hyper-specific Halloween costumes, rooted in humour and offbeat pop culture references.
It’s a trend that celebrates queer creativity and the unique cultural touchstones that often feel like inside jokes or coded signals.
i hate gay halloween what do you mean you’re cosmo queen of melrose explaining how your grandmother wanted you all to switch from catholic to jehovah pic.twitter.com/VDbeW8rnD9— matt (@mattxiv) October 24, 2024I hate gay Halloween, what do you mean you’re the churro pic.twitter.com/9xesklPJso— Apa (@apaagbayani) October 31, 2024From costumes inspired by obscure movie props to unlikely song references, Gay Halloween is all about pushing beyond mainstream pop culture to make something hilariously hyper-focused.
Take, for example, a costume inspired by singer Chappell Roan. While Roan herself might be a popular costume choice, Gay Halloween levels up the joke.