Milwaukee LGBTQ Bars Ban Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer Halloween Costumes

• Two Milwaukee LGBTQ bars have banned Jeffrey Dahmer Halloween costumes.
• Dahmer, who lived in Milwaukee, picked up several of his victims from a Milwaukee gay bar.
• A controversial Netflix series has put the serial killer, who died in 1994, back into the spotlight.

Two LGBTQ bars in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, will prohibit entry to customers wearing Jeffrey Dahmer costumes over the Halloween weekend, WISN 12 News reported.

D.IX and This Is It! said in statements that costumes of the Milwaukee-based serial killer, who is once again in the spotlight due to a hit Netflix series, are banned on their premises, noting that they would hit too close to home.

Dahmer, who was also known as the “Milwaukee Monster,” murdered and dismembered 17 young men between 1978 and 1991.  The serial killer picked up several of his victims, the majority of whom were people of color, from a gay bar he frequented in Milwaukee.

“Even though Dahmer was not a customer at This is It!, the bar has been getting phone calls ever since the Netflix series aired because we are the oldest LGBTQ+ bar in Milwaukee, and in the Midwest,” said This Is It! in a statement to WISN 12.

“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,” the statement continued.

Dahmer, who died in 1994, is becoming known to a new generation following last month’s release of a controversial and extremely popular Netflix series. Insider reported that TikTokers have accused “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” of romanticizing and minimizing his crimes.

Eric Hamilton, a manager of DIX, said in a statement that the “naivety” might cause people who have watched the show to wear a Dahmer costume. 

“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,” Hamilton said, per WISN 12. “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. It’s not a costume.”

CBS MoneyWatch reported that eBay had banned the sale of Dahmer Halloween costumes and other paraphernalia. The costumes are in violation of the company’s “violence and violent criminals policy,” a spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.