'No Jeffrey Dahmer costumes': Milwaukee gay bars refuse entry to customers dressed as serial killer for Halloween
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some readers. Discretion advised.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN: Gay bars in Milwaukee are banning customers from wearing Jeffrey Dahmer Halloween costumes as the notorious serial killer targeted his victims in the city's LGBTQ+ community. Dahmer preyed on the gay community in the Wisconsin city for a decade-and-a-half.
Dahmer, nicknamed the 'The Milwaukee Cannibal', murdered and dismembered at least 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. When he was arrested, police arrived at his home to discover seven skulls, two hearts, severed hands, skeletons, and dismembered torsos, as well as polaroid photos of his victims, saws, knives, a drill, and acid. Dahmer was eventually sentenced to 16 consecutive life terms in prison in 1992.
READ MORE
Other prisoners said that while in jail, Dahmer would shape his food into body parts and spread ketchup on them to make them look like blood. He was killed by fellow Columbia Correctional Institution inmate Christopher Scarver on November 28, 1994. Interest in Dahmer's crimes was renewed after the release of the Netflix series 'Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' starring Evan Peters.
It has now been revealed that those dressing up as Dahmer will be denied entrance at LGBTQ+ watering holes 'D.I.X.' and 'This Is It' in the Midwest city this Halloween. Representatives of the latter told local channel WISN 12 that although Dahmer had never visited the bar, they have "been getting phone calls ever since the Netflix series aired because we are the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Milwaukee, and in the Midwest."
"This, coupled with the popularity of the series and people on social media toying with the idea that somehow dressing up like this evil person would be a good idea, led the bar to make a statement that such hateful and disrespectful costumes will not be allowed in our space," they said.
Meanwhile, in a Facebook post, D.I.X. Milwaukee wrote, "Good morning y’all, as the Halloween festivities began We want to make sure we all in the same page remember if you’re wearing a costume with a mask and/or make up and we can’t recognize you please have an extra form of ID so we can prove you’re 21+, having your ID ready before entering the bar is a most and faster way to move lines and remember we are here to have a great time respect everyone and make sure everyone feels welcome and comfortable so with that being said please NO JEFFREY DAMHER COSTUMES at the bar please. So now let’s have a great time and let it be spooky!"
D.I.X. has banned customers from wearing Dahmer costumes as they do not want to re-traumatize other customers who lived through the time the killer was at large. "We understand there's a generation out there that did not live this situation, they may not understand the severity of how it affected the community," one of the bar's managers, Eric Hamilton, told the outlet. "We don't want to put patrons in the situation where they would have to see or relive something that they had to truly experience. That's not a costume."
Dahmer is said to have lured some of his victims from bars in Walker's Point, Milwaukee. "We're not here to tell you what's appropriate or get authoritarian on you, but at the end of the day, we will politely ask you that you either remove part of your costume so it will not affect anyone or politely tell you to go to another bar," Hamilton said.
In a Facebook post, 'This Is It' gay bar said, "In solidarity, with our other queer establishments, this Halloween weekend, we reserve the right to refuse access to anyone wearing hateful, racist and otherwise disrespectful costume choices. This includes anyone dressed as Dahmer. Please be safe & have fun this weekend."
