Cheers to the Guncles (and the Whole Glitter-Family)

Mark your calendars, darlings—Sunday, August 10, 2025, is International Gay Uncles Day! Also known as Guncles Day, it’s a celebration of the queer relatives who bring wisdom, humor, love, and (let’s be honest) the best stories to every family gathering. It may not be a Hallmark holiday yet, but it’s quickly becoming one of the most joyful days on the queer calendar—and we think it deserves all the sparkle we can give it.

It’s a day to recognize the glitter-glammed, wisdom-wielding, joke-cracking, hug-giving superheroes of the family tree: gay uncles and other LGBTQ+ relatives who show up with love, humor, and authenticity.

📅 Where Did Gay Uncles Day Come From?

Like many of the best queer celebrations, Gay Uncles Day didn’t come from a marketing team—it came from the heart. The idea first gained traction around 2016, when social media users began using the hashtag #GayUnclesDay to shine a spotlight on the loving, fabulous, and often unsung LGBTQ+ relatives in their lives.

Credit is often given to Scott Gatz, CEO of Q.Digital (the parent company of GayCities and Queerty), who promoted the idea to celebrate the second Sunday in August as a dedicated day of appreciation. From there, it caught fire—embraced by queer families, allies, and anyone who’s ever had (or been) a guncle worth bragging about.

It may not be a Hallmark holiday (yet), but Gay Uncles Day has quickly become a joyful excuse to say, “Thank you for being fabulous—and for always showing up.”

💖 Who Is a Guncle?

A guncle is more than just a gay uncle. They’re the extra sparkle at every family gathering, the keeper of secrets and emergency lip balm, and often the first person to tell a child, “You can be exactly who you are—and I’ll love you for it.”

But Guncles Day isn’t just for uncles—it’s for every LGBTQ+ person who plays that special, supportive role in a child’s life:

• Sparkle-cousins who bring the party and the heart

• Glammas and Glampas who serve both wisdom and wardrobe

• Fairy godparents with a flair for enchantment and boundary-setting

• Glemmies—gender-bending icons who radiate love, glam, and groundedness

• Lesbi-aunts (or Lezzy Aunties, if you're nasty) who show up with snacks, advice, and righteous indignation

• Nibling whisperers who just get the kids without even trying

• Chosen family who might not share your DNA, but absolutely share your heart

Whether you go by guncle, auntie, baba, titi, or “my favorite person ever,” this day is for you. If you’ve ever made a child feel safer, sillier, or more seen just by being your fabulous self—you are what we’re celebrating.

🌈 Why It Matters

Visibility saves lives—and so does love.

For many kids, a guncle or queer relative may be the first LGBTQ+ adult they know. That visibility can mean the world. It says, without having to say a word: you’re not alone, and your future can be beautiful.

Sometimes it’s a loud celebration of queerness. Sometimes it’s a subtle nod across the dinner table, a knowing glance, or a fierce defense when no one else speaks up. In families where queerness is erased, ignored, or misunderstood, that one affirming presence can be life-changing.

Queer relatives often hold a unique role—one part confidant, one part cheerleader, one part guardian angel in sunglasses. They are the ones who make space for the “different” kid, who offer safety in chaotic moments, who bring humor, honesty, and heart to the places where silence used to live.

And it’s not just the kids who benefit. When a queer relative is visible and loved within a family, it creates space for others to grow. Visibility fosters empathy, normalizes difference, and quietly invites allies to emerge. Maybe it starts with a conversation, a softened opinion, or just watching love in action—but it matters. Sometimes, just by showing up as yourself, you help shift the world around you.

Guncles (and their counterparts) help kids see that queerness isn’t just about surviving—it's about thriving. About living out loud. About bringing glitter to game night and real talk to the dinner table.

🥂 How to Celebrate Your Glitter-Family (Sequins Strongly Encouraged)

There’s no wrong way to honor the queer relatives who bring magic into your life—but here are a few ideas to help you turn the love all the way up:

• Call, text, or FaceTime your guncle (or glemmie, or glamma...) and tell them how much they mean to you. Bonus points for emojis, memes, or voice notes filled with affection.

• Post your appreciation. Share your favorite photos, stories, or guncleisms on social media with the hashtag #GayUnclesDay.

• Make a toast. Whether it’s brunch, dinner, or just cocktails on the porch, raise a glass to the queer icons in your family.

• Host a mini celebration. A sparkle-themed picnic, backyard drag show, or Guncle Appreciation Brunch is always in order.

• Send a card, glitter bomb, or lovingly chosen candle. Let them know you see them—and that they’re iconic.

• Be that person. If you are the sparkle in someone’s life, give yourself permission to receive the love. You’ve earned it, darling.

Big gestures or small, heartfelt or hilarious—whatever you do, just make it sparkle.

👑 In Praise of the Guncles

Before we go, let’s take a moment to truly honor the hearts behind this day. Beyond the hashtags and the brunches, beyond the sequins and sass, these beloved queer relatives play a quiet but powerful role in shaping lives. They show up. They shine. And they remind us—sometimes without ever saying it out loud—that love can be loud, glittery, gentle, and steady all at once.

They give the best hugs. They throw the best shade (lovingly). They make the best cocktails, tell the best stories, and give the best life advice at the weirdest times. They show up with sequins in their soul and glitter in their glove compartment—just in case.

They’re the keepers of family legends, the bringers of joy, and the ones who say, “I love you, exactly as you are,” and mean it with their whole sparkly hearts.

To every guncle, glamma, glemma, sparkle-cousin, fairy godparent, lezzy auntie, trans auntie, and glorious queer soul who’s ever made a kid feel safe, seen, and celebrated: You are family. You are joy. You are magic.

Happy Gay Uncles Day! 💐🌈💋

💌 P.S. – A Dedication from Chuck & Tom

On August 12, 2025, Tom and I will celebrate 30 wonderful years of love together. Over those three decades, we’ve answered to guncle, uncle, dad, fairy godfather, auntie, and every sparkly variation in between. Together, we’ve had the honor of loving and showing up for 27 nieces and nephews, 34 great-niblings, one great-great-niece, and a constellation of chosen family who call us whatever name feels like home.

We’ve baked birthday cakes and officiated weddings. We’ve introduced them to drag brunches and walked them into gay bars for their first legal drink. We’ve helped them shop for wedding rings, tutored algebra, celebrated graduations, and scooped many a bowl of ice cream after a hard day. And along the way, we’ve patched up boo-boos of the body, the heart, and the soul—ours and theirs.

This post is for every one of them—and for every queer relative who plays the quiet hero in someone else’s story. For everyone who’s ever been the safe place, the loud cheerleader, the unexpected anchor, or the one who just knew when to show up.

And we’d be remiss not to mention the gay and bisexual members of our own glitter family who came before us—those who paved the way, modeled queerness with grace and humor, and helped us see what was possible. Their presence gave us courage, and their love helped shape the family we now carry forward.

You may not always get a thank-you card. But trust us—you are never forgotten.

With glitter, gratitude, and endless love,

Chuck & Tom

P.P.S. Cake lasts but a moment—but glitter is forever.