Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

"Not to over-romanticize this, but gay people loving Halloween isn't some accident. Up until the 1970s, most US cities banned same-sex dancing (& serving booze to gays, and even simple touching.) But in the 50s & 60s, some police depts made exceptions for Halloween & New Years

[...]

"On Halloween, though, it was possible to get around some of these laws. For example, in cities that banned drag (and enforced it by demanding men not wear clothing deemed "feminine,") it was easy to defend's one drag as a simple Halloween costume on Oct 31.

[...]

"Political organizing into the 1960s and a growing confidence that they weren't sick lead gays to more brazenly challenge homophobic laws. As one activist in SF put it in 1973,"We were allocated Halloween and nothing else. Finally, the gay community said 'Fuck you.'

"'We're going to put on a dress anytime we want to.'

"So yes we homosexuals love Halloween because it's campy, silly, outrageous, blah blah. But that's the point. All this wasn't legal just a few generations ago.

"Go party. Happy Halloween"

-- Eric Gonzaba (EGonzaba), 2022-10-27 [If you do a web search for "Gay Christmas" you can find other articles and essays about this particular aspect of Hallowe'en for adults.]

(Of course, Hallowe'en is also confused-programers' Christmas, because 31_Oct = 25_Dec.)

Happy Hallowe'en and blessed Samhain to everyone celebrating either or both of those!