Elvira can’t wait for ‘Gayvira’ to take over Halloween after coming out as queer
Elvira – aka Cassandra Peterson – attends Comic-Con International on 23 July 2016 in San Diego, California. (Getty/Matt Cowan)
Don something black and silky and put on a mile-high teased hairpiece because Elvira wants to see a flock of ‘Gayviras’ this Halloween.
TMZ caught up with Cassandra Peterson – best known for her role as Elvira – on the street outside ABC Studios in New York City. The outlet asked the actor what she thought would be the most popular Halloween costume this year as the US soon enters the spooky season.
Without missing a beat, Peterson responded that Elvira costumes are set to make a comeback because she is one of the most “crazy and outrageous” things to come out this year.
“Let’s see Tiger King was last year, what the hell has come out this year that’s crazy and outrageous?” Peterson thought.
The TMZ reporter shared that they thought her character would be “very popular this year”, and she said people should dress up as “Gayvira”.
“That’s amazing, did you just think of that now?” the reporter asked.
“Yeah,” Peterson responded.
The real question now is: camp or vamp? Camp-vamp? Really, the possibilities for Elvira with a queer twist are endless.
The queen of Halloween recently revealed in her memoir Yours Cruelly, Elvira that she’d been in a relationship with her partner, Teresa “T” Wierson, for 19 years.
She met Wierson at the gym after initially mistaking her for a “dark and brooding” man with “intense energy”. She eventually discovered the “sexy bad boy” was a woman, and their deep friendship evolved into something much more over time.
Peterson said she didn’t come out publicly sooner because she felt the “need to protect Elvira” to “keep my career alive”. She worried that her fans might “abandon me” if she revealed she wasn’t “living the ‘straight life’” anymore.
Elvira is celebrating her 40th anniversary with a Halloween, horror special for streaming service Shudder. (YouTube)
In her first TV interview since coming out publicly, Peterson told Tamron Hall that she thought people cared so much about her coming out because of her character. She described how fans assumed that Elvira is “straight” because she’s a “big horndog” who is “always chasing guys”.
“So I think it’s a little shocking for people to go ‘her of all people’,” Peterson said. “I think that’s why it’s such a big deal right now.”
She added it has been “really scary” going public about her sexuality and relationship, but she is “very relieved” to now be open about who she is.
“It is scary and exciting, but also I’m very relieved and so is my partner,” Peterson said, even sharing a picture of her and Wierson cuddled up on a sofa during the interview.
She continued: “Holding in secrets all the time gives you gas. I mean it’s, I was just reading an interview with the actor Danny Trejo, who’s a friend and he said, ‘You’re only as sick as your secrets’.
“It really does, it’s not a good feeling, keeping that from people.”
