Happy Halloween! Did you know that halloween has a history as a lgbt holiday?
– The Castro, a district in San Francisco played host to an annual children’s costume contest starting in 1948. Back then, many (straight) families with kids lived there.
– In the 1960s, most families moved to cheaper suburbs and instead “single men” moved into the district. Many of those “single men” were gay (many of them were expelled from the military for being lgbt+ and decided to stay in San Francisco instead of returning home and facing hate. San Francisco allowed to to find housing and employment.).
– As a result of that, gay bars opened in the district, which in turn attracted more lgbt+ people to move to The Castro. It became a “gay district”.
– It was also home of the Black Cat Bar, a gay bar which featured the live entertainer José Sarria. Police raids of gay bars were routine back then and many people got arrested. José who was openly gay advised them to demand jury trials – now many courts were overloaded and judges began to expect actual evidence of a crime which resulted in less people being arrested. He became the first openly gay candidate in the United States to run for public office.
– With The Castro known as a gay district, the annual children’s Halloween party turned into a adult lgbt+ event in 1979. Halloween became known as “the major holiday” for lgbt+ people.
There are other history facts about lgbt+ Halloween:
– If interviewed before 1969, lgbt+ people often wore masks to hide their face during the interview. Wearing a mask was a symbol for “being in the closet” which is one of the reasons why the stereotype “lgbt+ people love extravagant fashion/love dressing up” exists.
– Halloween gave trans people a chance to wear clothes that represent their real gender without the fear of getting arrested (It was common to arrest trans people for wearing “deceiving” clothes).
I hope all of you have a safe and happy Halloween! ❤
lovingdread 