Halloween is here, and either you and your friends have been planning your elaborate costumes for weeks, or you are going to throw something together the day of.
I recently saw a pledge on Facebook that provided an interesting approach to the holiday. The photo said, “Discrimination is scary! This person pledges not to wear a racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist costume this Halloween.”
The Transgender Law Center created this pledge in 2013 with the goal of getting people to think about what they would wear on Halloween and not participate in discriminatory or culturally inappropriate costumes.
I hadn’t heard of some of the words used in the pledge, so I looked them up to understand exactly what the pledge was calling for. Signing the pledge meant that the participant would not wear a Halloween costume that is discriminatory or prejudiced against race, sex, homosexual people, transsexual or transgender people, or people with disabilities. This list appears pretty lengthy, but it’s not a difficult task to accomplish this Halloween.
People can argue that taking this stance on Halloween is over thinking a seemingly harmless, fun holiday. I don’t think many people create a costume with the intention of being discriminatory or hurtful to others. But there is a line between good-natured humor and being prejudiced, and it can easily be crossed on a holiday that promotes eccentric expression.
The Transgender Law Center was not the only group to address this issue of inappropriate costumes. In 2013, colleges like the University of Colorado at Boulder, Ohio University and the University of Minnesota began advising students against wearing offensive costumes, such as dressing up as geishas, cowboys and Indians, or wearing blackface or sombreros.
I do not think the point of the pledge was to finger point or make the holiday any less festive. In fact, the Transgender Law Center published an article in 2010 about how LGBT people embrace Halloween, especially when laws regulating gendered clothing existed.
“On Halloween night, LGBT people were as free as everyone else to conceal (or reveal) their true identities,” the Transgender Law Center stated.
It’s important to take the holiday for what it is – fun and good-natured. But it also can’t hurt to put in the effort to show respect to all people on Halloween and every day. I believe our generation is accepting and understanding enough to avoid wearing discriminating costumes on Halloween.
Claire Noack can be reached at noac8702@stthomas.edu.