Back in 2016 a Facebook user called C. J. Hatter threw out the idea of a day to celebrates Gay Uncles. The ideas picked up stream when the late Simon Dunn, an Australian rugby player, shared it on his social media.
So the fun and frivolous Gay Uncle Day was born and its grown in popularity ever since, celebrated on the second Sunday in August.
As Simon Dunn once noted it can be a moment for families to be inclusive of all their members, remind people that relationships don’t need to be hidden, and maybe even provide a coming out moment for some.
Over the last decade the day has been noted by many celebrities and featured in news articles around the world. When I posted a video to OUTinPerth’s social media pages earlier this week we got a huge reaction to a celebration of Guncles.
The video sparked heaps of conversations with lots of people sharing their plans for their own celebrations, including some readers who shared that not only were they gay uncles, they’d also progressed to the next generation with the status of great gay uncles.
Predictably there were the commenters moaning about too many days celebrating the LGBTIQA+ community, and a need to return to “family values” – which is when you think about it quite amusing because the comment only demonstrates that homophobia leads you to only valuing some members of your family.
People asked us why there wasn’t a day for heterosexual uncles (there is) or a day for lesbian aunts (there is) or why today couldn’t have been dedicated to something else – well it’s the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, Singaporean National Day and in Finland its a day to celebrate art.
There was so much feedback.
Happy Gay Uncle Day to all who celebrate. Our upcoming moments of celebration and reflection include bisexual Awareneess Week on 23 August, Wear It Purple Day on 28 August, International Genealogical Awareness Day on 10 September.
