The reasons queer people are obsessed with Halloween have me torn: Do I cry or do I smile?

Queer people and Halloween go together like witches and black cats, like drag queens and I Will Survive, like questionable Grindr decisions and the mandatory storytime with friends afterwards. In the great words of American Horror Story’s Jessica Lange: “That’s what gays do; munch butts and celebrate Halloween.”

But why? Sure, on the outside, queer people loving the spooky season makes sense. Not to reduce our entire community to a vibe, but there’s dressing up, partying, and horror movies where dumb straight couples ignore ominous blinking lights and “did you hear that?” in favour of making out. But queer people never needed an excuse to dress up, and the party is simply wherever we find ourselves to be. 

So that brings me right back to the question at hand: Why do queer people love Halloween? 

“It’s not every day you can dress as Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body,” one queer person, Izzy, told The Tab. 

“I love orange. I love fancy dress. I love horror movies. I love the macabre. Halloween has all of that,” someone else told me. 

Credit: TikTok

Dig deeper, and the reason queer people love Halloween is both sad and wholesome

Across the internet, Halloween is often referred to as “gay Christmas”, and while not every queer person on the planet is a fan of things that go bump in the night, it’s got a long history for the LGBTQ+ community. 

In America, from the 1920s onwards, queer people were slapped down, and cross-dressing was forbidden. To fight back against this, queer communities started hosting drag balls on Halloween because it allowed everyone to dress in the gender-affirming clothing they desired. This trend continued for decades, and the “gay Christmas” phrase was born in the 1950s, when queer people put on very queer parades under the illusion of Halloween celebrations. The rest is history. 

“Halloween can be one of the few times of the year they can express themselves freely without worrying as much about how they’re perceived by heteronormative culture,” Doriel Jacov, a psychotherapist specialising in LGBTQ+ care, told The Tab. 

Credit: TikTok

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“Of course, not every queer person loves Halloween, but it can be a chance to finally wear the makeup you’ve always wanted to try or test out a wig, and to play with gender and how it’s presented. You might stand out less because everyone around you is wearing a new look too.”

Doriel also noted how many queer people are used to “code-switching”, the practice of shifting between versions of yourself depending on the situation. We also see this practice in communities of colour. 

I love gay Halloween bc wdym ur Lisa Rinna dancing on the table at Andy Cohen’s baby shower 👄 pic.twitter.com/4MFUOmOCKL

— Justin (@JustThomp) October 27, 2026

“On Halloween, much of that can go out the window. It’s not necessarily that people stop being judgmental, but on Halloween people are often less fixated on whether someone meets a certain standard of presentation,” they told me. “Halloween also invites camp and performance, which the queer community has long had fun with, and it lets people express that side of themselves with humour and playfulness.”

So yes, while camp of Halloween is stereotypically something queer people would enjoy, it goes deeper than that. It’s about having a space where being different isn’t something to hide, tone down, or apologise for. It’s something to celebrate.

For a community that has spent decades being told how to dress, how to act, and who we are and aren’t allowed to be, there’s something pretty powerful about claiming a night that lets people do the exact opposite. We can be too loud, too colourful, too weird, too much – and be celebrated for it. 

So whether you’re dressing up as an obscure pop culture reference, staying in with a horror and some snacks, or simply embodying the version of yourself you keep tucked away, that’s worth celebrating.

Happy gay Christmas, everyone.

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Featured image credit: Canva