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Who Won Gay Halloween This Year?

What’s more gay or queer than pushing that which is marginalized into the spotlight?

Hrag Vartanian

Hrag Vartanian

— 4 min read
Who Won Gay Halloween This Year?
Via @Brenbash on X

If you’ve been staring at a costume for a tad too long, trying to figure out what it could be, then the chances are you’ve had a close encounter with Gay Halloween. 

What’s Gay Halloween, you ask? Well, we have an explainer for the uninitiated, but in summary, it is a moment, character, or thing that is normally overlooked and is now celebrated, giving a marginal thing main character treatment. I mean, what’s more gay or queer than pushing that which is marginalized into the spotlight? And this year, mama, we got your Gay Halloween tally going … and let’s just say it’s serving … and never mind that queer New Yorkers are still losing their minds at the fact that mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani spent Halloween weekend LGBTQ+ club hopping to garner votes. It’s official… Gay Halloween is lit!

Lest we forget that topical is the manna of Gay Halloween, and the Roman Catholic Pope’s election was smoking this year:

And no, NO moment is too minor to conjure up an epic moment:

I’m not even sure what to think of this, but I bet the YA author would be ok with the mold as long as it’s not trans:

Oh yes, what would Gay Halloween be without its divas:

Or it’s Marx stans? This one is so 2025 it hurts:

And related, this is what Trump and his klan think is happening in NYC:

And then there are the sketchy outfits:

And then some things are super super specific:

And this year, people were serving our favorite C-word, and boy, it was anything but a drag:

And life comes at your fast, but NYC Halloweeners are faster:

And sometimes you wear the swan, and other times the swan wears you … right, Bjork? (I know it's an old one, but I just had to resurface it as queer memory work demands it.)

Then there are things that shouldn’t work but do … like this Angry Bird clock in VEEP?

So many people were memes this year, including the Alpha Wolf ripping his shirt off:

And nodding Robert Redford:

The ducking smoking a blunt also made an appearance:

And pop culture moments that won’t die, like the time George W. Bush was shoed:

Or you recreated John Lennon walking:

Or the hot guy who perhaps revealed something about himself he didn’t expect to on Jeopardy:

And this moment is not just a look but an education … take notes, sweeties:

South Park’s Randy Marsh as Lorde is a deep cut, and it works (or werks it):


And even Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki isn’t safe from being reborn during Gay Halloween:

This winner this year is the person who went out as Cynthia Erivo’s acrylic nail. I mean, we don’t understand you, but will protect you at all cost, because that’s what Gay Halloween is about: