Halloween is still days away, but online, “Gay Halloween” is in full-force.
Ahead of the actual holiday, hundreds of people on X are showing off their niche costumes that are inspired by pop culture and partaking in what’s been deemed the “I Hate Gay Halloween” meme.
The posts all begin with text that reads, “I hate gay Halloween, what do you mean you’re dressed as” with a description of the costume. Typically, people are dressed up in an “obscure costume that would most likely only land with another gay person,” according to meme database Know Your Meme.
The “I hate Gay Halloween” phrase began to pick up traction in recent years as a joke about the obscurity of queer Halloween costumes, according to Know Your Meme.
While the posts cheekily proclaim to “hate Gay Halloween” because of how silly or ridiculous the costumes are, many appear to be shared by the costume-wearers themselves.
One of the earliest references to “gay Halloween” costumes is from 2022, when one X user posted, “Gay Halloween costumes are like ‘oh this? I’m the scarf Mira Sorvino folded at the end of Romy and Michelle.”
While the “I hate Gay Halloween” meme isn’t a new trend, its resurgence comes amid continued discourse online about whether the spooky holiday has turned into more of a clout-driven spectacle. People are increasingly dressing up in niche costumes that are inspired by major online moments or memes. One recent think piece blasted themed Halloween parties, and another deemed that it feels like this year the “chronically online have stolen” the holiday.
But those who are partaking in the “I hate gay Halloween” trend appear to embrace the “extremely online” of it all.
Over the weekend, many online showed off their costumes, which ranged from the bizarre looking yellow carousel horse from the new Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh film, “We Live in Time” to the activator and termination shots from the film, “The Substance.”
Aside from films, many also did costumes that were a play off of viral lyrics and music videos from popular musicians.
For example, using Chappell Roan’s song “Casual” as inspiration, one couple dressed as the singer and the other a “passenger seat,” paying homage to the lyrics of the tune.
There were also many “Brat”-themed costumes, building on the momentum from the summer memes around British pop star Charli XCX’s album.
The hilariously catastrophic Scottish Willy Wonka Experience and Olympics-related viral moments also served as inspiration for several popular costumes this year.
Some preferred to stick to the “classic” memes of years past, like tired D.W. from the children’s cartoon “Arthur.”
This year, Halloween falls on a Thursday — meaning the internet will likely be inundated with even more costume photos in the days to come.