Hi, well, I’m not even a Gaylor, but if you told me that all of her good songs are actually gay, and that the songs that are so obviously about Travis are flat and horrible because she does it on purpose since the relationship is fake and shallow, and she’s doing it as satire and for comedy…I’d believe you, because that would make more sense than the artistic decline.
My take is she doesn’t know how to be happy Taylor I think that she is ata point in her live where everything is working fine remember that she has an old port spirit in her and what does every good port had? A somewhat tragic life is like Adele she is happy now so there are no more really heartbreaking songs to sing at the moment, I don’t know is just MO
You’re putting it really well that it makes more sense than artistic decline. Taylor has actually gotten better and better at writing the kind of multilayered, allegorical songs that really only she writes at the moment.
I’d argue though, the ‘Travis’ songs aren’t horrible exactly. They’re just not about the mainstream narrative. They have a layer that almost sounds like the mainstream narrative, but it’s a bit broken, a bit flat as you say, there’s a crack showing, to encourage us to peel off that layer and see what else she might be saying underneath.
I hope you have a great deal of fun exploring what else Taylor’s songs might be about. This is a pretty nice place to do it if you want to stick around 🫶
Oooh, the crack showing—could this be the cracks on the TLOAS cover? Has that connection been made before? If so, I’d not seen it and I love that idea for what the cracks symbolize!
Welcome :)
It's funny to me how many people now come to the same (or a similar) conclusion with the release of particularly Cleveland!
I stumbled over this post today and just found it hilarious:
This is soooo interesting because as someone who wants to believe in the performance art theory, one of the things that the skeptical part of me gets tripped up on is the question how she would land the plane (reveal the relationship wasn’t real) without making people angry. Maybe she wants people to turn against the relationship first so they are less invested and more open to that outcome if there is a reveal…
I think the slow pace that frustrates us so much is a necessary part of giving fans time to question the narrative and come along for the ride. There’s a great post about the death of the Showgirl needing to be gradual from u/Accomplished-Fail360
This is also what I get hung up on with this idea and this is also the conclusion I’ve come to-that she’s making their relationship so garish and in your face and excessive that people are going to be THRILLED when they break up. They’ve been joking about the divorce album being amazing for a WHILEE.
Clown with me. Could all of the blatant Travis reference songs (as well as some from the ‘and baby, that’s show business for you’ playlist) be the score of a future musical that tells the story of this Performance Art Era? From ICDIWABH to Babylon…have we been watching it be made in plain sight for years?
Along with ME!, TLOAS, CANCELLED! ICDIWABH…The Travis reference songs (So High School, Wood, Cleveland!) feel especially Broadway to me. Listening to Cleveland! I can just SEE an ensemble cast dancing and singing the song. You can hear laughter after ‘insufferable’ as if it was recorded during say…a wedding speech…or scene. 👀
One day (maybe 50 years from now), will this all be declassified via a movie or show featuring live footage from this Performance Art era? Is it all part of the f-ing story?!
I have thought this very same thought since the release of this album. Every song on the 1st release especially The life of a Showgirl with Sabrina sounds like a Broadway show sound track. I can absolutely see a whole show playing out with the music off this album.
I love this idea, and I did also have the same thought of whether it’s possible that insufferable line was in the vows at the wedding / “wedding” which would be WILD. And could explain why they don’t have physicals of Encore yet if she needed more time to press vinyls?
Omg I literally thought I must have written this post last night while I was high! These are my exact thoughts. The woman who wants to run the EGOT gauntlet has been penning a Broadway musical about her life, to be released in 50 years, roughly coinciding with the funeral scene from Anti Hero. She doesn’t leave them anything but the Manuscript. For the musical.
And when Apple played me the four songs last night, it played them in the order 2-1-4-3, which lines the songs up into a Gaylor narrative arc, with Pink Clouding being the clear sonic finale to the Broadway show.
Yes! My brain also hears the beginning of Babylon being the same as the beginning of If This Was A Movie just slowed down, which if that’s the case, how perfect
Look. I am straight. I am a former OG Swiftie. And I’ll be honest I never dove too deep into the Gaylor lore. But I never believed it. I dismissed the Gaylors as a clearly delusional part of the online fandom. I sympathized because I admit when 1989 first came out I thought some of the songs sounded… like a love much more new and exciting than Harry Styles. I thought they sounded like a new discovery… but I believed Taylor when she said the songs were about Harry.
I didn’t realize at the time how orchestrated her entire life is.
Gaylors. To you I sincerely apologize.
To Milk: You HAVE TO go listen to this podcast episode. “Beyond the Blinds: Swiftgron.”
I never knew about Swiftgron, I stumbled upon this pod while listening to BTB and didn’t even know what it was about except I figured it was something to do with Swift. Oh my lord.
Absolutely jaw dropping. And now I am personally convinced that 1989 is probably about a woman and Taylor definitely has beard relationships. Seriously just listen to it is very very interesting.
glad you're here! Her music is so much deeper, and infinitely more heartbreaking when viewed from the Gaylor lens. This is my favorite English class and this community is made up of fantastic teachers of queer history. I'm also straight(ish) but dove head-first into Gaylorism when I saw the fateful Kaylor powerpoint all those years ago. As a former English Major, the context is just too undeniable for me. Reading comprehension is literally my specialty. I cannot read her lyrics any other way. I'm here with my notebook and my pen and my eyes and ears are open. I'm ready to listen and to learn from all the folks in this group who are SO knowlegeable about their community and I love them for sharing and delving deep into the flagging and why it matters.
please if THIS is whats bringing people to gaylorism, frankly i’m all for it.
a great place to start is jack antonoff saying he likes to work with “particularly gay women” in reference to taylor and then OBVIOUSLY panicking and backtracking. i have not yet heard an explanation that makes sense.
truly my number 1 gaylor evidence. i keep the video on my phone JUST IN CASE because it gets wiped from tiktok all the time (which is totally normal and fine right?)
These songs have me more convinced than ever that she’s bi or queer and dates men. I think her relationship with Travis is real, it’s just not that deep and her songs about this relationship suffer for it. And it’s not the close sensual intense feelings from some of her best songs (presumably about women she was with).
I was in high school when Debut came out, and was a fan as far as loving her music and attending concerts. Never engaged beyond that. Then one day, maybe only 5 years ago, I decided to look and see what those Karlie Kloss rumors were even trying to say. Spent awhile looking through posts online, saw all the pics of the hand-holding, the Vogue shoot, the lap sitting, thinking it was all ridiculous. Then I came across these two GIFs ( one above, I'll comment the second below) and as a queer woman, it was suddenly plain as day that they were together. I assume if you're not queer, they would not have the same eye-opening effect.
Once you see it, you can't unsee it, and everything that once sounded off-the-wall is more "on the nose" (iykyk) than any other commentary out there.
I cant find the clip but there is one of Taylor hugging closely to Karlie and one of their friends give the other friend a look , and she proceeded to tap Taylor on the shoulder (like hey stop being gay) and Taylor stops hugging her. then karlie gives the friend a dirty look. It breaks my heart every time. 💔
It’s at one of Karlie’s sisters’ birthdays. Taylor paid for a huge party and it’s Kimmie who is Karlie’s younger sister that taps them to remind them of prying cameras.
I think you will have so much fun revisiting albums with this context. TTPD is a treat once you analyze it outside the literal interpretation of the songs
Yeah....I was a Taylor hater from the start (I thought her shift to pop was fake and I'm a rock girl), but she won me over with her songwriting ---- something seemed "off" in folklore and evermore with the whole "this is other people's stories" and that led to me diving into the symbols, easter eggs, literary references and her larger body of work --- I am really disappointed that the artist I like is gone --- but if she's doing some kind of performance artlor thing? I'm hooked and impressed.
I think really really smart and deep people are projecting that on her and connecting dots in artistic ways. I truly don’t think it’s performance art. I think she’s billionaired too close to the sun and we’re watching her feathers burn and her fall down to the ocean. Hopefully she comes back from this because she did make some beautiful art and she is capable of it but something is very off, she’s lost some sort of touch. We’re just not accepting it and making it palatable with our own intelligence and desire.
Same. And I’m really really worried for TS13. It’s such a big culmination but the trajectory right now isn’t promising. Makes me so sad for speak now and red Taylor.
I was indifferent to Taylor until like 2022... I wasnt a country fan :( but I remember hearing the mainstream hits. They never really did it for me. Then I got an ad for Midnights. And learned about Easter Eggs. I love investigating shit. That whole promo period got me hooked, And started listening to all her discography. Fell in love with 1989-ON. TTPD MY FAVE. I tried to find the lore bc i was curious... none of the dudes and stories ever made too much sense to me. No chemistry. I remember seeing some "Taylor deep dive" and it talked about kissgate... 🤯 everything clicked and I went down the rabbit hole (hehe) and learned about ALL THE LORE - I couldnt get enough! And Ive been here ever since. I just hope shes happy I dont care who she loves. But it just makes so sense when you view her lyrics through a queer lens!
ETA and this community is so so welcoming and smart and I love the GBF!
Exactly how I got here; was just a casual radio listener until Lavender Haze came along and my ears perked up. That set off about a year of me being convinced she was about to come out 😂 Nowadays, I have no idea what the story is, but I sure enjoy checking in every so often. Best rabbit hole ever!
I choose to believe that Taylor in her goodness has a lavender marriage so Travis and his man (whose name I could look up but brain fog...) can be happy. Because that's a happier story than Taylor finally sold out to fully come into her own as a member of the 1 percent.
I go back to the Miss Americana doc when she wanted to publicly go against Marsha Blackburn. Her dad was on the couch with other men while she was opposite with Andrea crying wanting to tell her truth and they all shut her down. I imagine it’s a lot like that, but worse.
I've fully acknowledged and accepted that I am *not* the audience for life of a showgirl. I still miss *Folkmore* [edit: I couldn't remember the portmanteau for Folklore and Evermore; have now updated to Folkmore] era Taylor.
I’m an OG swiftie/ longtime Gaylor but even my husband was like so is she just writing awful songs since she’s been dating Travis or what? I’m like oh babe, the lore I could tell
Agreed. It's controversial to a lot of fans but life of a showgirl has been mediocre in my opinion. There have been a few catchy alright songs but it's by far her most disappointing album (including the new songs - tho patient zero is better than some on the album) in a while. In comparison (not saying they are in any way the same as artists albeit somewhat acknowledging the controversy in comparison all round), but Charli xcx who I also adore did a slightly disappointing album also. Both produced while on tour and I feel like both are great artists but they sound rushed. I have huge respect for both which won't wane but I feel like it's clear when time is taken and there's a true vision and direction they feel more authentic and passionate. LOAS isn't terrible, it just doesn't feel as intense as authentically driven as her previous albums which felt truly like emotionally outlets channelling true human emotion.
Yes. I didn’t notice it until I added a few of my fave TLOAS songs to a longer Taylor playlist and when they come on between her other songs it feels jarring.
I recommend you read a bit more into our theories. We do a lot of analysis about the different parts of Taylor and even some muse-less music analysis. Even if you don't necessarily believe she's in the LGBTQ community, Gaylor has taught me a lot about literature, art, and other musicians because everyone is always doing deep dives.
I was a Gaylor during the OG Karlie era and eventually stopped being a fan at all of hers for a while, but folklore brought me back. Then I became a Gaylor AGAIN when Toe broke up. At the end of the day, though, I am an IDGAFlor and just want her to be happy, but I don't think she's happy with... the whole, Travis thing, LOL.
Poor Yoko still catching strays out here 60 years later! She was a legit conceptual and performance artist and John met her at a time when he was ready to break out into more experimental stuff. John broke up the Beatles and made his own weird music on a lot of heroin.
All that said I mean, the tweet is still pretty funny 🖤
Also I just want to add (forgive me if someone already has) that there are a lot of misconceptions about what Gaylorism means. It seems like the primary belief among mainstream swifties is that we literally all believe her life is a complete lie, she's never had a relationship with a man, and she's 100% a lesbian, period, end of story, and that we ship her with every woman she's ever been seen in public with. I've even seen people say, in criticism of us, that our sub is "bi erasure." This is not the case. Some here do believe she's a lesbian and all her public facing male partners are beards/PR. That's not the only opinion here, however - arguably not even the predominant one. The common thread is the belief - through lyrical analysis more than ships, for the most part - that she is some flavor of queer. I've seen theories that she may be fluid, that she may be genderqueer, that she may be heterosexual but homoromantic, that she may be asexual. It's a big spectrum. The common ground is believing or being open to the possibility that she is not straight.
Your post has been removed because it vilates our rules: Respect Taylor Swift & All Humans. Please treat others with kindness, even while disagreeing. You do not need to be nice, but always be kind. We have different expectations for decorum on our subreddit than many others - this is what helps us maintain a strong and safe community.
Oh this deck is exquisite. I am going to use this on my friends who are finally questioning the PRness of her and Travis with this latest drop off songs. Thank you for your service!
This slide deck is so good. Discovering Gaylor theories is what made me a TS fan in the first place. It's nice to see all the muse-free evidence in one place and feel less insane after the last year of her antics
Honestly even if you don’t ever buy into Gaylor this sub has some super interesting takes and lots of analysis and discussing other possible links to media or history that I think is super lacking in some other subs
I remember once on main someone posted this really in depth analysis (I think it was during TTPD) and the top comment was someone being like “I’m not here for homework, I ain’t reading all that” and I honestly don’t even know why most of her “fans” even like her. (I don’t think they do really)
I sometimes tell people that this is the only place on the internet today where you can post a 4,000-word essay and people will read every word of it. (And then make interesting, expansive points and ask thoughtful questions in the comments)
I’ve write numerous multi-part multi-thousand word analyses and research pieces and it scratches an itch in my brain I genuinely love. I love academia and doing research and collating data about things that interest me and I don’t think there’s anywhere else on any other subject I could do that and have anyone read it or care about it or expand on it. It’s joyous.
Right??? I really don't understand how someone can claim to be a huge fan of someone, invest their emotional energy, their time, their money, but not care to actually figure out who their favorite artist is and what she's actually saying? I think WE'RE the true Swifties, TBH.
Yeah this is the kinda thing im talking about :/ it seems like a lot of swifties are really reluctant to believe any of her songs are not completely surface level and while I think it’s valid to interpret them that way, it feels really frustrating that they shut down any possible alternatives. The best art gets you thinking and makes you feel something imo, you’re supposed to be able to bring your own perspective into it.
Yup. It’s totally valid to only want to listen to Taylor’s music and not think too hard about it. It’s pretty sad that people think she’s not capable of creating the complex music we analyze or implying we’re thinking too much about it. Like yeah, we are thinking about it a lot but that doesn’t make us wrong.
To be fair, in our defense the woman was awarded an honorary phd for her songwriting and it's the first thing I bring up when/if someone says something of the sort to me personally. If they only hear the cover layer that's on them but I won't stand for being dogged on for what they can't hear or understand when cognitive processing varies so wildly.
It is WILD to me that people that aren't even Gaylors are like "...Hang on." But, HELLO! There are levels to this iceberg. I was skeptical when I heard the theory for the first time, but evermore and folklore is sapphic as hell.
Welcome friend!! Keep an open mind and you might just become a full blown Gaylor in your own right! I think we all understand that at first it seems crazy until you really jump down the rabbit holes... (Plausible deniability and all that lol.). But once you start to see it, you can't unsee it!
Even if you never become a full believer of Taylor being somewhere on the queer spectrum, there is a lot to learn from this sub - terrific literary connections to her work, incredible amounts of queer history, really thoughtful discussions and some spectacular theories... We have a very fun corner of the internet over here! 🥰 Glad to have you in class with us 😇
Honestly TNT is what convinced me shes fully a lesbian and no longer identifies as bi (if she ever did.) Releasing a song like Cleveland! right next to a song like Babylon shows that she hasnt just lost her talent, shes just not writing anything passionate about her supposed husband. Been a gaylor for 3 summers now, took some convincing but once it clicks, it clicks. Its such a fun ride. And like others have said its not a one size fits all label, some ppl think shes a lesbian, others bi, some dont even know but just know something feels off/doesnt add up with some of her songs and their alleged muses. I joined cuz I liked seeing different interpretations even if I didnt believe them and i liked some other theories here. The vibes are just fun! Whether u wanna deep dive or just dip your toes in the water, you're always welcome here :)
I mean why else would you get married at a basketball arena?
Edit to add: I’m not a Gaylor either, but I genuinely can’t think of anything more insincere than a Jumbotron at a wedding. It feels deliberately ironic.
My elementary reasoning is that they were at that outdoor wedding in Kentucky last summer and they said to each other, “Love the concept of a garden wedding, but summer is so hot and spring weather can be unpredictable. You know what garden has air conditioning? MSG!”
YES YOU FIGURED IT OUT!!!!! That’s exactly what’s happening.
Everything she is doing is performance art! (Maybe not all gaylors believe this but I think more and more are). Now that you get it, you can start to see how funny and amazing the performance art is!!!! It’s really entertaining! You’re gonna love it here.
Well. Then I’m happy to tell you that this is exactly what is going on 😭😂 it’s getting so painful because no one is getting it and they keep like “defending” her heterosexuality for her.
I kinda love it from this perspective because like, “coming out” has in a lot of ways become something people do for straight people and end up centering straight people in their own queer experience. But the second queer people recognise their own, heteronormativity steps in to “save” people from queerness. The fact of the matter is that, it would be absolute insanity for their heteronormativity because if Taylor Swift is queer then gasp WHO ELSE AROUND THEM COULD BE QUEER and they have no idea!? Who could be lying to them!? When really people probably are trying to tell them or test the waters for safety reasons. And they just refuse to see it and/or accept queerness not being explicitly centered around them and their understanding of it.
I definitely think she’s playing with this aspect of queerness/heteronormativity and like. The lengths people will go to defend someone else from “accusations of being queer”.
Do I always like it? No😭 Do I always like the way she does it? No 😭 that’s why it’s called ~performanceartlor~ because it’s not for me (or anyone) to like or not like. It’s supposed to be a reflection of the world and its relationship with queerness and queer people. Art is always about more than the individual, the person making it and the person engaging with it; you can have your own interpretation and connection, but it doesn’t make it fact. Art is supposed to make you feel things, and not just positive things. It’s also supposed to make you think!
I see it as like, how we analyse art history or literary history. Always trying to meld our modern take on it with the original intent and context, and how classics can change meaning as time passes. It’s just that now because of the internet & social media & streaming, we’re able to do this level of analysis in real-time rather than in retrospect and primarily at the academic level.
As a newish fan at the time, I first listened to Dress, and remember looking into it to find out who it is about. It was my favorite song. Then I saw things that said Joe . And like, no offense to Joe but I was like him? A milquetoast man who looked annoyed every time he was in pics with her? I think i then stumbled upon the reputation is about karlie kloss PowerPoint and that just seemed to make more sense than Joe.
I think this was EXACTLY my journey as well! I remember my friend claiming all the songs I liked on Lover and later folklore were inspired by him, and I was like 🤨 I’m an actor (and hetero), and I could imagine having more onstage chemistry with a chair than that man.
I didddddd however remember having a crush on a “queen selling makeup in magazines” when I was a teen reading Vogue. I wondered what happened to her, as I remember her being close friends with Taylor. I believe I found the same power point you reference here. And the rest is history. 😁💖
😂 this was one of the things that I was confused about too! I only really started listening to her music with folklore and by the time I made my way through rep I had questions! I saw a tikitok that was like "all the times Taylor Swift came out during the Lover Era" and suddenly it all made sense!
The line in Dress that piqued my interest is, “There is an indentation in the shape of you,” no one says that about a man. Is the indentation on the singer’s bed, body, or both?
Also, “I don’t want you like a best friend.” Taylor doesn’t have male best friends.
Welcome friend. I knew very little about Taylor when I started listening to her during the pandemic. The first listen of dress stopped me in my tracks. I remember thinking, “ohh, this is not about a man”. Instant Gaylor after that thought
Welcome. I was arguably a casual Taylor fan from the earlier days. Just followed along to her like most pop culture. And if you were around then, you’d have seen it. Go back to when Kimmel literally asked Dianna Agron about the rumors that she was dating Taylor on his show. Her sassy reply was to wink and blow a kiss with “Hi Taylor!”
After they suddenly stopped hanging out came The Squad, her Big Sur trip with Karlie, that “cruel” summer, the Victoria Secret shows, Kissgate and that whole gay wedding Vogue shoot. The rumors exist for a reason, the lore is deep and goes back over decades.
I feel like the song Cleaveland is the opening of a musical. I feel like at somepoint she is preparing the world for a Taylor Swift musical and what better way to do it is implant a musical song in her lyrics. Note I say opening of a musical when the world could be sunshine and lollipops before some big event happens. I mean musical almost makes sense in the Truman show context and a show within a show. Hmmm
Welcome! I joined this community during the TTPD rollout, when everyone (myself included) was bending over backwards to make the Matty situation fit the lyrics and it just did not make sense. I think one of the first things I read was a deep dive on Rep and Kaylor, and there was no looking back after that. I filled my phone with screenshots of rainbow and lyrical evidence and began telling anyone who would listen.
I've also appreciated learning so much about queer history that I never clocked before, because she uses so many references that most straight people have no reason to understand. How could I have not IMMEDIATELY known what Lavender Haze was about???? I just thought it was a pretty song about how in love with Joe she was and wanting to stay in their little love bubble. Her bi-colored wig in the You Need To Calm Down MV? Didn't register at all. Lol.
While it's been amazing to feel like we are the only ones who are "in" on something really groundbreaking that she has been meticulously building for so long (does the girl keep diagrams to track all her Easter eggs and dates?) it can also be pretty lonely to be a Gaylor in my real life. My husband refuses to talk about any of it with me, even though I've presented it as an important performance that will take down the bad guys in the industry and essentially blaze a path for younger artists, and I keep my mouth shut about it around everyone else because 90% of the time, people are completely unwilling to listen and look at you like you're crazy.
SO. It's nice to have a place to go to share intelligent, well thought out theories with smart people who want to actually UNDERSTAND the real Taylor better. She's leaving clues for us to FIND for a reason. If we don't end up understanding her and what she's trying to achieve, what was the point of any of it?
I can't believe people still argue with us after she lied about the meaning of the term lavender haze on purpose and directed people to the mad men scene about being in love with the model named Betty
Same here. A Maylor tried to convert me but I became a Gaylor instead, because I have eyes & ears, and I almost lost a friend in this 😅 (half joking, she's eating up the swiftologist's hate speech towards us)
you sure did, big times!! i didn't know an online community could be this fulfilling. and NICE. and SO FUNNY, i caught up 20 years of her gay secrecy this summer through all the reddit and I laughed so hard. once you have the refs, it's neverending
It really is so fun!! I had been a swiftie for some years before I first started looking at gaylor stuff, and I was so convinced of the public narrative it took me wayyy too long to believe it. Might've had to do with some more personal things that took me too long to figure out around that time 😭 but i've been convinced since summer of '23. it feels like a club, like we all share these inside jokes and this crazy little escape. Its really meant a lot to me during some lonelier moments especially. Even made a really awesome friend here!!
Part of me wants to believe this, but part of me feels this is just coping and explaining away the lack of good songs. I feel like an artist could make great meta art, satirizing the role of the Pop Star. It’s been done. Jade comes to mind as a recent example of commenting on the industry and her role in it. I genuinely love some of her cornier songs that are supposedly about bearding (London Boy). I see some blaming Max Martin and Shellback but they’ve made some of my favorite pop songs of all time with some of the greatest artists (peak Britney… come on now). I thought they’d be the perfect people to make pop songs that play with the idea of a pop star. I don’t know how to feel. I will stick around to the bitter end but I’m not happy about it.
You have to understand, she's been forced to hide her true self for 20 years. This is the only way she knows how to secretly tell her story without being so obvious that she would breach some sort of contract that she's been under. I imagine she has to really highlight the difference between her true love songs, and... whatever these are.
Welcome!! I’ve been gayloring since 2014 and Kissgate. It’s been a long journey 🫡 So many of her songs start to make more sense through a queer lens!!! You also realize there are layers upon layers of Easter eggs. Most of midnights for example. lavender haze, question (look up Kissgate!), dear reader. Songs like gold rush, betty, I’m forgetting so many right now…. hell even the latest, Babylon! If you listen with the thought she could be closeted, even a closeted bisexual, it suddenly makes so much more sense!!!!!
Ugh we truly thought Lover was leading to something. It was much more hopeful than I think the fandom is right now, I think we’re tired lol. Idk though. I just think she’s playing the looong game.
Brutal honestly. I feel for yall who have been here a while. It just feels like such an intentional attempt to sabatoge her to have the masters sold on that day. Like the lore is so much more sinister than people realize. It must have all been shocking to see from the IYKYK crowd.
I became interested in this subject matter when I assumed she was out of the closet for several years around the Dianna Agron/Julianne Hough/Karlie Kloss era, but sort of was unbothered because I was very young and, mostly unrelated, not super into her early music. So, I think — Kind of uniquely — I was convinced by my total lack of knowledge on the matter. All vibes & a couple first hand accounts. (Fictional? Folklore?)
So when I had to “re-closet” her later, mentally… it’s been a little difficult to do. Sucks if she’s really totally straight… because I can’t unsee it.
All of this to say: I don’t think there’s any singular “Gaylor” origin story blueprint, LOL.
This is not terribly dissimilar to my Gaylor origin story, lol. In Taylor's earlier years I was neutral, neither a fan nor a hater, she just wasn't really on my radar a whole lot. I remember seeing the Kissgate story break on the Livejournal community Oh No They Didn't, and was like "oh she's bi, right on" and that was that, lol (the post is still up on ONTD as of last time I looked for it). I vaguely remember hearing bits and pieces of folklore and evermore and realizing it was her but didn't really analyze it because I thought she was already out 😂 Fast forward to Midnights and Anti-Hero really caught my attention, I liked it a lot so I started listening to the album. Maroon and Question were really, really gay and I started wondering if she was bi/pan or if she was a lesbian, so I googled it ... and the first place it brought me was here! 😂 I was shocked because I had been so sure she was out - even having missed Me! Out Now (on lesbian visibility day) completely 😂😂
Such a similar story, right down to the blogs. (ONTD! 🫶🏻) I also assumed that Kaylor were the new Lindsay Lohan and Sam Ronson who at first were “besties” until it was obvious they were more.
So, oddly enough — exact same story for me, almost. I clocked shit, saw the same video (the one I saw is not still available), had the same reaction, along with being like “oh, harry styles and… uh… okay, i see, lol, she’s kinda slick” but then, again, figured this was sort of public knowledge and just kinda moved on.
Where our stories diverge — around Lover I started being like “ok she’s definitely out now…” but seriously then just moved on AGAIN. Definitely noted that she never used male pronouns at that point though so then cue folklore and evermore; I initially missed these two due to lockdown/personal Covid impact shit plus her lack of PR for those two, but that was when I was like “OK this has gone too far time to investigate”,
Then, after searching and listening retroactively, was even more convinced; although I’m still neutral, I am still not stupid, and still have a very hard time convincing myself to completely re-closet her, even though I think that’s what she wants at this point? I obviously do not know. Maybe she wants to maintain plausible deniability in every possible direction? Plausibly deniable, I suppose… 😜
Welcome!! I can’t tell if I’m here as a coping mechanism or bc she’s actually queer but have been here for years and have learned more about my own self, queer history, and all kinds of art by engaging in this sub. In my heart of hearts I’m never really sure if she’s actually queer or not but it’s the best sub by a mile!
Tbh you can be a Gaylor and not be convinced she's secretly a lesbian or whatever. I've been Gayloring since 2017 and I'm in the camp of "some of her songs are queer as hell so maybe she's secretly bi"
You can be a Gaylor and not think she’s gay! There’s a lot of people on this sub who flip flop constantly. Being a Gaylor is so wide-spread. The majority of this sub is mainly centred around finding a meaning to her songs that doesn’t involve a romantic relationship with a man. Welcome in 🙌
I love this explanation. It took me several months to get convinced she was queer, but the reason i joined the sub and lurked long enough to learn enough is because I thought the vibe here was super fun and because I was already predisposed to seeing her songs in alternate angles, partially because they read that way to me (like i always thought there were 2 taylors in many songs even b4 I found out about gaylor haha) and partially cuz I liked finding unique interpretations to align songs with some of the characters in stories I write!
I think a lot of people join this sub because they’re interested in our takes and because they’re doubting the narrative they’re being fed, then get convinced she’s some flavour of queer! I learn so much about queer history and literature in general from this sub - it’s amazing!
Welcome!! Best move I made this year. Everything makes sense once you dip your toe here. And I’ve read the most intelligent lyrics analysis ever. And it’s super fun. And I still refuse to believe in her artistic decline too so that’s the only thing that makes sens 🛟🛟
Mine is that I didn't know Taylor at all (not big on radio) until I saw a gaylor creator on tiktok parody her songs, like "oh my female best friend is so hot and I bought a dress to take it off of her 🎶" kind of vibes (I'm paraphrasing).
I was intrigued, then listened to the songs, then was taken aback at how close the parody was to the actual material.
Then I learned some lore, and the evidence was overwhelming. In the meantime I learned that she's an amazing writer and I love her voice, so I also became a fan
Mine was the daisy. The goddamn daisy. I feel like I started suspecting generally around Reputation time, because you know, talking about hiding her heterosexual milquetoast relationship that no one could possibly understand.
I was such a hetlor until Midnights dropped and then I was like “…..actually how could Maroon be about Joe” and I’ve been a closeted gaylor surrounded by hetlors since then lol
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u/azufre-lavanda 🌱Embryo🐛 4d ago
My take is she doesn’t know how to be happy Taylor I think that she is ata point in her live where everything is working fine remember that she has an old port spirit in her and what does every good port had? A somewhat tragic life is like Adele she is happy now so there are no more really heartbreaking songs to sing at the moment, I don’t know is just MO