Greetings Instincters, Robby here hoping your October has been stellar! I love October, mostly because it’s the month I was born in (come through Libra season!) But October has so many other reasons we love it – Fall is beginning, we can go pumpkin and apple picking.
And yes October has, for many, their most favorite holiday of the year. For me, not so much. This is hard to say, it is something I have struggled with for years, but I know this is a safe space amongst friends. Ok here we go – my name is Robby and I am a gay man who hates Halloween. Phew, I feel so much lighter getting that off my chest. Now before you revoke my gay card, let me explain myself.
First of all, “hate” is a strong word. I don’t hate Halloween, I’m not the spooky Grinch or anything. I am just not a fan. At all. I love going out to bars and parties, however, I don’t like going out on New Year’s Eve. Or Valentine’s Day. Or Cinco De Mayo. I can go out for margaritas any night, I don’t need or want to go out for margaritas on May 5th with the rest of the free world. Halloween falls into these categories because I love theme parties, costume parties. My friends and I have “wig out” parties every now and then. I just don’t like dressing up on October 31st.
And let’s talk about October 31st. If I was a politician, one of the first laws I would try to pass would be that Halloween is the last Saturday of the month regardless of the date. When Halloween falls mid-week it seems like every day for two weeks is Halloween. People have parties on different days. You go out to a bar and 30% of the people are in costume, “oh shit, is tonight a dress up night?” How many times do parents have to dress up their kids, for school parties and playdates? It’s exhausting.
Another factor is that Robby from Brooklyn has a sweet tooth. I love candy. I eat way too much candy. Sour Patch kids. Skittles. Now and Laters. Love them all. I even engage in ‘no candy eating’ honor system battles with multiple friends. Since I am super competitive this is the best way to curb my candy addiction. I do pretty good in these contests, with one caveat – as long as I don’t have any candy in the house. If I buy it I eat it. So now you see another issue with me & Halloween: buying candy with the intention of giving it out to trick-or-treaters. That would be a no go for me. I eat it all. I have even tried buying “junk” candy. Nope. Still eat it. So no buying candy. Like Alanis sings, you live, you learn.
Finally, the most likely reason I am not a fan of Halloween – I used to be a teacher. High school and middle school English. I loved being a teacher for many reasons. Teaching on Halloween was NOT one of them. It’s just a shit show, even more than the normal everyday shit show. Sometimes the students can wear costumes. Even worse, sometimes they make the teachers wear a costume, a “floor” or “department” wide costume, one year we were Minions. Ugh.
Throw in a chaperoning gig if there is a Halloween Dance for the students. (Each teacher is expected to volunteer at a certain amount of events each year, I figure I “hate” Halloween as it is, I might as well get my volunteer shifts out of the way. It made sense at the time now it seems like I was a glutton for punishment lol.) Teaching November 1st is no picnic either. If you think teaching on Halloween would be rough, try teaching the day after Halloween!
In recent years I have tried to get on board with Halloween. For the last three years, minus 2020 because well you know it was 2020, I have proudly marched with GAYS AGAINST GUNS in the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade! And each year has been more fun than the last. For one thing, the Halloween parade is SO MUCH shorter than the Gay Pride Parade, like EIGHT hours shorter. Marching with friends, seeing all the amazing, creative costumes, bar hopping in the Village afterwards! Now that is a great reason for me to wear a costume on the 31st day of October. Just don’t expect me to say Happy Halloween!
(**This post is solely the opinion of this contributing writer and may not reflect the opinion of other writers, staff, or owners of Instinct Magazine.)
For many of us, Halloween is a very sacred time, because the veil between the two worlds is at its thinnest and this is the time to honor our ancestors. We celebrate them and honor their place in our lives. It’s also Dia de Los Muertos, Day of the Dead which is a similar celebration. This is great because it brings another culture into the celebrations. Last night, I opened my window and listened to the celebration going across the street in the cemetery until the air got colder. Blessed be!
You’re not the only gay hehe I have several friends who absolutely dislike Halloween as well.