How the 'Gay Halloween' trend celebrates niche humour with creative costumes

"I hate Gay Halloween what do you mean you're the tennis ball POV in Challengers?"

Entertainment . Written by Sarah Creighton Keogh .

Splitscreen of original Halloween costumes.
Image: Via X - @LucasAuraelius, @‌motticomedy and @‌DylanGGuerra

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.

 

From 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. Take X user @motticomedy who dressed up as Roan and a literal passenger seat, a playful nod to the lyrics in her song ‘Casual’. It’s this next-level thinking that has made the trend.

 

The origins of Gay Halloween can be traced back to 2022 when an early meme poked fun at the specificity of gay humour, referencing the film Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion. In the viral post, a user joked, “Gay Halloween costumes are like, ‘Oh this? I’m the scarf Mira Sorvino folded at the end of Romy and Michele.’” That style of humour continues in 2024 but with even more unconventional takes. 

 

Sharing niche references like these has long been part of LGBTQ+ culture. In the past, these inside jokes and coded language served a protective purpose, signalling queer identity in ways that were safer for their time. For example, gay men in mid-century America would use the phrase “Are you a friend of Dorothy?” in reference to The Wizard of Oz, while in England, Polari was a secret language that allowed queer people to communicate safely.

This Halloween, queer people are carrying on that tradition—though now, the signals are shared openly, with humour, and in a spirit of celebration. Gay Halloween isn’t just about costumes; it’s a clever, creative reminder of the unique ways queer culture continues to thrive.

© 2024 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

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