Gay Halloween in the Village New York City
Halloween in the 1980s, in the gay district of NYC, in particular the village (Greenwich village) was the center of a vibrant, daring and assertive nightlife.
Self-expression and exuberant and extravagant costumes went far beyond simple disguise. It was about pushing the limits of hetero-normative society by celebrating diversity and creativity.
Halloween was the perfect opportunity to play with identities, a celebration dedicated to metamorphosis and the transgression of norms, but also a moment for the LGBTQ+ community to claim their rights to exist under the hovering shadow of AIDS.
From the beginning of the decade AIDS began to ravage the gay community of New York generating a wave of fear and stigmatization.
Halloween became a form of rebellion against fatality; it was a kind of dance, a struggle to ward off death and intensely celebrate the urgency of living. It was also a moment of collective resistance to the guilt and hatred that permeated the discourses of that time.
Parades like the famous Halloween parade in Greenwich Village attracted mixed crowds. This mix of genres and communities was a way to affirm freedom, diversity and to show that Queer identity was an integral part of the social fabric of New York City.
These photographs were taken at night during Halloween parties in NYC’s gay district (The Village) from 1980 to 1984. They were forgotten for 40 years in a suitcase. This never-published portfolio is in memory of all my friends who were victims of AIDS.
