I remember the 80s: my gay and trans friends threw the very most fun parties while keeping everyone safe, played the best dance music, and had the very best costumes!

21 Incredibly Obscure Gay Halloween Costumes No One Will Understand

“What do you mean you’re a transgender mouse?“

By Samantha Allen, Quispe López, Fran Tirado, Ludwig Hurtado, and Ana Osorno

Are you really gay if straight people can recognize your Halloween costume? The real indicator of someone’s sexual orientation is whether they go to a party as something recognizable — or whether they go as Chappell Roan in the crowd at Governors Ball. Why would you go as a sexy cat when you could be a transgender mouse — or a reference to an obscure arthouse movie only you and your mutuals have seen?

In all seriousness, I am a little torn on the practice of wearing incredibly obscure gay Halloween costumes: maybe there are better ways to communicate your niche interests than forcing everyone at the function to ask “…and what are you again?” But on the other hand, who does it really hurt when your friends dress up like George Santos’ alleged drag persona Kitara Ravache and the fishing rod with legs from Toy Story? Sure, maybe it turns all of us into the Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme when we recognize each other’s fits, but it’s fine! We only get so many Halloweens in our lives, we might as well take some big swings!

Indeed, in the end, there is a certain beauty in our community’s intense love of obscure pop cultural moments and artifacts. So why not use the year’s spookiest holiday as an excuse to get hyperspecific? Forget witches and ghosts: find the deepest rabbit hole you know and leap to the bottom of it! And if you’re wanting for inspiration, we here at Them have curated a bevy of ideas, ranging from Barack Obama’s nonbinary friend to the concept of twink death. Enjoy all the confused looks on your way to the party. — Samantha Allen

Transgender Mouse

Mice, Ranked From Least to Most Transgender

No matter gay straight or bi, lesbian, transgender mice.

As we established here at Them dot us, after Trump’s deranged claim about “transgender mice,” mice are indeed pretty damn transgender. If you want to be silly and gay, there luckily is an abundance of trans-coded mice to choose from. Some of our favorites include Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs, labor union darling Scabby the Rat, and of course Remy from Ratatouille. — Quispe López

Lea Michele from the Cursed Glee Mash-Up of “Let’s Have a Kiki” and “Turkey Lurkey Time”

Get a jump start on Thanksgiving with this horrible pull from the TV archives. Put on a red dress, a brunette wig, and if anyone wonders who you are, just raise a finger to the sky and sing “It’s turkey lurkey time.” Confused expressions? That’s part of the experience. — Samantha Allen

Ava from Hacks on the escalator

@hbomax

Two insults in one is the Vance special. Hacks JeanSmart HannahEinbinder DeborahVance AvaDaniels

♬ original sound – Max – HBO Max

(Snip; there is so much more it’d make a huge post; it’s fabulous, so have another cup, click through, and enjoy!)