The recent Fire UpStairs podcast discussed how Halloween has long been more than costumes and candy for the LGBTQ+ community. When queerness and cross-dressing were outlawed, the holiday gave queens and queers alike permission to dress to express, blending in while boldly standing out. It’s no coincidence the UpStairs Lounge — a safe haven for queer and trans folks in New Orleans — opened on Halloween night in 1970. Learning this, Joey Hardy Gray, co-creator of the podcast, asked how did he not know this? His co-host Ryan Killian Krause rightly replied, “No one else will tell our stories if we don’t tell them for ourselves.”
