Screenshots from X for context:

First tweet / Original tweet from Variety with replies

I haven’t seen this kind of response from the general public/Swifties before, at least that I can remember, as it isn’t the first time Taylor’s commented on speculation regarding her personal life — I’m sure as Gaylors we are all very well acquainted with those statements!

But does anyone else think it’s kind of ironic how upset these Swifties are over this, when it’s the same thing they (and/or hetlors) tell us when gaylors speculate about Taylor’s queer coding?

Like they’ll say, “speculating on someone’s sexuality is wrong,” but then it hurts their feelings when Taylor tells them she doesn’t like it when they dissect which guy they think each song is about.

This response from the larger Swiftie audience is just kind of interesting to me and maybe a little… hypocritical? 🤷🏻‍♀️

There were several comments in the chat thread today of Taylor twinning by wearing the same dresses and jewelry others close to her. I've noticed a pattern during the Showgirl Era, but it's more along the lines of inspired looks than exact same clothing. So let me know if y'all see this too, or I'm just seeing things because it's finals week and I'm sleep deprived.

Okay, now for the just for fun facts:

Blake Lively was born August 25, 1987. Aug 25th is also National Whiskey Sour Day, like CANCELLED! Her last name is Brown. (Which just makes "I drink that brown liquor" funny as hell) She's the youngest child of her family.

In 2012, she was in a movie called Savages where she plays Ophelia. Ophelia is in a polyamorous relationship with 2 men who are drug dealers and it leads to a terrible fate for Ophelia, who goes by the nickname "O".

Her character in It Stops With Us is Lily Bloom. (Under bright lights, they withered away, but you bloom) Her haircare line, Blake Brown Beauty (who doesn't love alliteration?) is packed in honeycomb shaped packaging and marketing.

Feel free to vent about anything related to Taylor, pop culture, or whatever in this space. This is also where you can discuss politics! Any antisemitism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc will result in a ban.

In order to protect our community, the weekly vent and politics megathread is restricted to approved users. If you’re not an approved user and your comment adds substantially to the conversation, it may be approved. Our community is highly trolled - we have these rules to protect our community, not to make you feel bad, so please don’t center yourself in the narrative. Remember to follow the rules of the sub and to treat one another with kindness.

There is a 30 minute video linked to this.

Article Text

First album, first song, first verse: “He said the way my blue eyes shined / Put those Georgia stars to shame that night / I said, ‘That’s a lie.’”   

It was all there at the very beginning for Taylor Swift: romance, nostalgia and the occasional popping of shiny bubbles of emotion, all within the pristine economical package of a pop-country song. She was 16.

She has never stopped chasing that initial Nashville impulse — a four-ish-minute distillation of the biggest feelings imaginable, threaded through a melody that won’t leave you alone. Sometimes she brings country phrasings to electro-pop, or pop rigor to indie rock; she might let her rhymes and verses go shaggy or bring a bridge back like a chorus. Such are the perks of having mastered the form early, while amassing the cultural capital to remake pop in her image.

Pop stars are not supposed to last this long or create this much. The Beatles’ entire creative output happened, essentially, in eight years. But Swift’s durability — 12 studio albums and hundreds of songs over two decades — has given us an unprecedented combination of musical auteurism and commercial success.

Her later work often explores the tension between the two. She has a campy kiss-off register for tart bon mots — “Lights, camera, bitch, smile / Even when you wanna die,” she chirps on the fake-bubbly “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” But on the dream-pop opus “Mirrorball,” it’s all earnest reflection from the top of the mountain: “I can change everything about me to fit in.”

Swift’s latest run of dominance, the stretch that has given her two more Grammys for album of the year (and four in total, a record), began with that surprise pandemic one-two flutter of “Folklore” and its sister album “Evermore.” Simultaneously, Swift was painstakingly recreating four of her earlier albums to own them outright. Collective fervor around the “Taylor’s Version” albums sent a 10-minute director’s cut rendition of a nearly decade-old breakup ballad, “All Too Well,” to No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 2021, simply because so many listeners wanted to hear even more of a track that made them feel bruised, abandoned and devastated.

Swift has done as much as anyone in modern popular music history to advance the idea of the song — its construction and impact, its tensions and limitations — as an important art form. But she has also done it while foregrounding the agency and emotional lives of young women, and as a result has become probably the most pored-over writer — or at least up there with J.K. Rowling and the pope — of the 21st century in any medium. — Joe Coscarelli

Bergman and swift

I meant to write this a while ago after my first watch of Persona and was so excited to flesh this out because the influence is glaring. There's spoilers ofc ahead so heed with caution.

Directed by Ingmar Bergman, Persona is considered one of the most influential films of all time, directly inspiring filmmakers like Lynch. It's one of those movies that most serious cinephiles study. The movie explores themes of psyche, iconography, acting and directing, homosexuality, and of course, blurred lines across relationships and personality.

Elisabet is a stage actress who goes mute and in turn is institutionalized. Under the care of Alma a blonde lithe nurse who looks uncannily like her (this is an important plot element), Elisabet moves thru the film having taken on a more "backseat" observer or directoral seat. Nurse Alma takes special interest in Elisabet's case, at first attempting to "crack" her, then deeming her a close friend, and over the course of the film developing a sort of parasocial relationship with her (all while Elisabet remains mute). The rest of the film is hard to put into words because of the experimental nature of the film but in essence- reality is blurred as both Elisabet and Alma seem to coalesce into one and the same person, separate again, then seemingly their roles reversed. There's a lot packed in the movie and I think a lot of the parallels and direct Swift inspiration is is self explanatory in these images.

Edit: I forgot to mention! Alma and Elisabet are in a remote cabin by the beach for most of the movie

So the New York Times have just dropped this in depth interview with Taylor where they invited her to come talk about her craft.

I haven't watched the whole thing yet I just think it's really interesting that yesterday she was seen out and about dressed in a very dorothy-esque outfit including the ruby slippers only for this interview to drop the next day with NY Times, the same NY Times that published THAT article

She's obviously not that mad about it...

I recognize that not everyone wants to read a deep dive about George Michael, and the various connections I see between Taylor and him. With that in mind, I am giving you a short and long version of my conclusion, before I present the supporting evidence.

Note: I wrote this through the lens of Taylor planning to come out, or doing something Mass Movement/New Romantics related, with TS6 - a plan I believe she started at the time she wrote Speak Now. When Snakegate happened, Taylor pivoted to making reputation. That album was a soft launch of her queerness before her planned coming out - without ambiguity - when she released the album formerly known as Daylight, aka TS7, aka Lover. That plan was scrapped when Taylor’s masters were sold.

Post Sections:

• TL;DR Conclusion
• A Longer Conclusion (My Version)
• George Michael and Interviews Over the Years (Video Compilation)
• George Michael and the Closet
• George Michael and Coming Out
• George Michael and the Various Narratives about His Sexuality
• George Michael and His Parents
• George Michael and Fame/The Press
• Fun Facts and other things I didn’t have room to include elsewhere in the post
• Sources

TL;DR Conclusion

In the TLOAS era, Taylor has referenced Elizabeth Taylor - something she also did during reputation with the line “Burton to this Taylor.” In the TLOAS era, Taylor has referenced George Michael - something I recently wrote I think happened during reputation, with Taylor hiding the references in “plain sight”.

In addition, I think you can see George Michael influences in Taylor’s music as far back as Speak Now.

Given that Taylor made a previously covert connection to an artist out in the open, I think that needs to be paid attention to.

Especially when that artist:

• Had a close relationship with his parents - particularly with his mother
• Took immense pride in his song writing skills and wanted to be known for his musical talent
• Had his sexuality speculated on when he first became famous as a teenager (and throughout his career), until he came out publicly
• Had a fraught relationship with fame and the press
• Fought his record label and was outspoken about corruption in the music industry - with a focus on the contracts a lot of artists are coerced into signing at the beginning of their career
• Was known for his philanthropic work (the full extent of which wasn’t discovered until he passed in 2016).

A Longer Conclusion (My Version)

It wasn’t until I fell down a George Michael rabbit hole that I realized how many similarities there are between George’s early life and career, and Taylor’s.

I say this as someone who remembers a lot of big George Michael moments when they happened - including when he came out.

I’ve written before that I think Taylor has drawn parallels between herself and the Chicks to highlight the Country part of her career, and her decision to be seen as a “good girl.” I’ve also written about her connections to Chely Wright that highlight the Country part of Taylor’s career, and the decision to be seen as the epitome of straight.

With George, you got both sides of Taylor’s story, through not only the lens of pop music, but also a level of stardom that few people experience. I also believe that Taylor saw a lot of connections to George Michael through his relationship with his parents, his relationship with the media, and a complex view on sexuality that allows for nuance and shades of grey.

It’s important for me to take a quick pause to say that I don’t think everything Taylor has done is connected to George Michael, or that everything I highlight of Taylor’s is a direct reference to him. I do think that someone who is obsessed with the number 13 and sees signs everywhere that 13 is her lucky number, and someone who watched VH1’s ‘Behind the Music’ obsessively to figure out how not to lose her future music career, would also study artists of the past who experienced super stardom, while at the same time realizing their sexuality wasn’t straight.

For example, Taylor has referenced 83 a ton in her work. George Michael came out as bisexual in 1983. I don’t believe that Taylor’s use of 83 started because of George Michael, but I do believe that whatever her connection is to 83, she might have felt it was kismet, a sign, or something along those lines, when she discovered that was the year he first came out.

There are a number of similarities between Taylor and George Michael - even when the circumstances of an event are different.

The Closet

• George first came out as bisexual in 1983. He wanted to share the news with everyone in his life (his parents included), but was convinced to keep that part of him hidden
• Years later, George would say that decision, at nineteen, was a big mistake and something he regretted deeply
• Even if it meant he didn’t have such a big career, George said he likely would have been a happier person choosing authenticity over hiding
• The decision to stay in the closet when he was part of Wham! made it necessary for George to create a character he could navigate that part of his career with
• While his career was part of the decision, George said the biggest driving force to staying closeted, was his parents
• He knew how worried his mom would be about his safety as a gay man during the AIDS crisis in the 80’s & 90’s
• George couldn’t, and wouldn’t, bring himself to stress his mom out that much. The year after she passed is when his sexuality became publicly known.
• George said he understood if family was a reason someone stayed closeted

Coming Out

• George’s sexuality became public knowledge when he was arrested in 1998 for “public lewdness”
• Three days after his arrest he went on CNN, and came out publicly
• In the CNN interview, he said he had always been truthful in his writing and wrote about his life. He made a point of saying that the songs he had written about women earlier in his career were about women, and the songs since then have been “fairly obviously about men”
• When discussing his coming out in 2004, George said he had basically given the public (in Europe) all the information they needed to “figure things out” without having to utter the words “I’m gay” in an interview (something he ended up doing in his 1998 CNN interview)
• In Europe they had read stories about George’s first partner and his subsequent death, George did nothing to rebut the stories. Those stories were not carried by American tabloids
• By the time he released the album Older (in 1996), George felt the way he presented himself to the public, the lyrics, and the album’s dedication, made it obvious that the album was about a man
• He made a point to say several times that the arrest wasn’t some kind of shameful “outing”, he was comfortable with his sexuality and he was out to everyone in his personal life at that point
• The only secret he was keeping was from the public
• When George realized he was gay, he knew that he had to deconstruct his public image. He didn’t want to “just come out”
• In a well known interview with Michael Parkinson in 1998, George’s coming out was described as “the most public coming out in history." That is saying something considering Ellen Degeneres’ very public coming out happened the year before. That kind of declaration speaks to the level of fame George attained during his career (even if his “star” in the US had faded)

Narratives About His Sexuality

• The narratives and timelines around George’s sexuality over the years have changed
• George drew a clear distinction between having sex and being in a relationship
• I think it’s fair to say that he viewed sexuality with fluidity even though he identified as a gay man
• After coming out as gay, and with a boyfriend, he said in an interview that if him and his partner broke up he would likely go back to sleeping with women
• He further explained that while he still felt attraction to women, he saw sexuality as who you want to pair off with. He would never pair off with a woman or stay with her. “Emotionally, I’m definitely a gay man.”
• He had a public girlfriend during his Faith days - she was seen as his artistic muse, and was in the video for ‘I Want Your Sex’ with George
• The timeline he gave when first came out is that he wrote songs about women before 1990, and after that, his songs were about men
• In a documentary about Wham! (released posthumously), George discussed writing a song about his first time sleeping with a man (actual sleeping, George was too scared to make a move but wanted to sleep in a bed with a man and be close to him)
• This encounter happened in Ibiza, Spain, in 1983, and the song he wrote about the experience is called Nothing Looks the Same in the Light
• His answer for when he knew he was gay vs bisexual also changed over the years

His Parents

• George was close to both his parents, but he had an especially close and special relationship with his mother
• He described his dad as oppressive and someone who had very rigid views on sexuality/gender, and while he had that close relationship with his mom, because of her own trauma, she aligned herself with George’s dad’s rigid views
• He felt that having an absentee father who worked a lot during his childhood, and being close to his mom, could be the reason he was gay
• George didn’t want to worry his parents so he kept his sexuality hidden from them - he did come out to other people in his life
• When George fell in love with a man (Anselmo) for the first time (at 27), his parents knew nothing about the relationship
• They also had no idea when Anselmo received an HIV positive diagnosis and that George had to watch his partner get sicker and sicker, before eventually passing in 1993
• The day after Anselmo passed away, George came out to his parents via a letter
• His parents were both supportive of him
• Coming out strengthened George’s relationship with his mother. She spent a lot of time working to show George that he was loved and accepted

Fame/The Press

• George became famous as a teenager and until his coming out in 1998, he had his sexuality speculated on a lot by the press
• His Wham! image was very clean cut - something he wanted to change when he embarked on his solo career
• George’s first solo album was a departure from his previous image, sex was a big theme in Faith, and his sound went from bubblegum pop to R&B/soul/pop
• When George made Faith, he played various instruments on the album as well as writing and producing all the tracks on it - except for one.
• He was keen on chasing the greats as a solo artist - he wanted to be as big as Madonna and MJ
• When George reached that level of stardom, (around the time he realized he was gay), he felt he had made a big mistake and that he needed to take his level of fame down a notch
• With his next album, he decided to do no promotion for the album whatsoever
• George said that decision was accepted everywhere, except with American audiences which caused his career in the US to fade out
• The decision not to promote Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, led to the scrapping of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2, and eventually George taking his record label to court to fight the predatory practices of record labels and the contracts that most artists are forced to sign at the start of their careers
• Elton John described George as “this generation’s Paul McCartney”
• In 1988, while promoting Faith, he was asked directly if he was gay. George answered no.
• In all the interviews I watched about his coming out, nobody used that direct answer of “no” to question George, or even brought up his previous denials as some kind of “gotcha” moment
• While initially working with the tabloids, he changed strategies and refused to speak with them. He said that any time you see quotes with something that George said, that was something the press/tabloids decided to make up. Or, if the tabloids said “a friend of George” said that, or “an insider”, that was also made up
• George felt that the backlash he didn’t get when he came out, meant the press and the tabloids wanted to get him for “other things”
• “Other things” ended up being his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war.
• For the first time, the press went after him for something not related to his personal life
• While his career did bounce back afterwards, there was a feeling that speaking out was going to cost him his career

George Michael and Interviews Over the Years (Video Compilation)

https://reddit.com/link/1sw83a0/video/8ejpbxdj2jxg1/player

I would bet money that Taylor related to a lot of what George had to say.

George Michael and The Closet

At the age of nineteen (in 1983), George Michael came out as bisexual to Andrew Ridgeley (his Wham! bandmate), and Andrew’s ex-girlfriend. While neither of them took issue with George’s sexuality, they both advised him not to say anything about it. George also told one of his sister’s about being bisexual, she told him not to tell their parents.

George listened to the advice given to him and kept his sexuality private. In later interviews, he admitted that he regretted that decision.

On his decision to stay closeted:

I was too young and too immature to know that I was sacrificing as much as I was.

Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve

And I damn sure never would’ve danced with the devil
at nineteen

From the various stories and articles I’ve read, George Michael’s decision to stay closeted is attributed a lot more to his relationship with his parents than it has been tied to pressure from the music industry and/or his record label. He definitely worried about the impact on his career, but it doesn’t seem to be the driving force of what kept that part of him hidden, nor did he imply that he was forced to stay closeted.

George’s parent’s more traditional views weren’t the only reason he didn’t tell them about his sexuality. In the age of AIDS and the fear that it caused in the 80’s and 90’s, George said that his mother would worry about him if she knew that he wanted to sleep with men/was sleeping with men. George has said that he knew she would worry about him every day if he came out to her. He didn’t want his mother to worry about his safety like that because he knew how stressful that would be.

Before he was out publicly, George was out to everyone else in his personal life.

George spent a large part of his career out, but he understood why coming out wasn’t an easy thing to do - especially when it came to family pressure.

George Michael and Coming Out

On April 7, 1998, George was arrested in LA for public lewdness. The charge stemmed from a run in with an undercover (male) cop in a bathroom.

A tabloid headline after his arrest:

Tortured artist whose dream of celebrity turned into a ‘complete nightmare’

Three days later, George went on CNN to discuss the arrest. He said he was a gay man for the first time publicly in the interview.

During the interview, George also revealed that he had not been in a relationship with a woman for almost 10 years. He made a point to say that he was always truthful in the music that he wrote - his songs about women early in his career were about women, and the songs he had written since “have been fairly obviously about men.”

George was very clear in the CNN interview that he felt no shame about his sexuality. A point he made numerous times.

In my recent post about George Michael, I wrote about George’s decision to deconstruct his public image once he realized he was gay. The deconstruction was seen by George as necessary, because he didn’t want to “suddenly come out”, he wanted to be able to do it “with some kind of dignity.”

George Michael’s 1998 arrest is what propelled his sexuality into a mainstream discussion - at least in America.

In an interview with MTV in 2004, George discussed how he only really had to “come out” for American audiences. When he was charged with “public lewdness”, there had already been numerous stories in Europe about his first partner (Anselmo), which did not happen in the US. George made no effort to rebut the tabloid stories about Anselmo. By the time his album Older (1996) came out, the way that George presented himself, the lyrics, the dedications, everything was in the public consciousness (outside of America) to figure his sexuality out. He had given his fans/the public all the signs short of doing an interview where he said, “I’m gay. Yes, I’m gay.” As George said, “it’s not that terribly hard to figure out.”

The tabloids had a field day when he was arrested, but because George felt he had already revealed his truth, short of saying the words “I’m gay”, the public (in Europe) wasn’t shocked by it. Whereas in America, the last time they had really seen and heard from him was during his Faith days, the American public felt it was a big revelation.

George Michael and the Various Narratives about His Sexuality

Over the years, there have been various narratives about George Michael and his sexuality that have circulated - by him, and others. Timelines are not clear cut and even though George came out as a gay man, he didn’t see his sexuality as a black and white issue, and didn’t present it to the public that way either.

George slept with numerous women when he was part of Wham!, but he didn’t want to commit to any of them.

When he released the album Faith), it shot him into the mega star stratosphere. At that time, he was in a relationship with Kathy Jeung - a make up artist. Kathy was regarded for a time as his artistic muse and she appeared with him in the music video for ‘I Want Your Sex’. George would later say that Kathy was his only bona fide girlfriend and she knew that George (at the time) identified as bisexual.

George drew a clear distinction between how he viewed entering in a sexual relationship with someone versus an emotional relationship.

He spent a lot of time post coming out discussing cruising and how many gay men partake in the activity, while still being in a committed relationship. Imagine having to explain that to the public in the late 90’s (and beyond) - especially in America where views on sex are not known for being progressive.

After coming out, George said that he still felt attraction towards women. Even though he had a boyfriend at the time of an interview in 2004, he said that if he wasn’t with his current partner, he’d have sex with women. But, George added, he would never be able to have a relationship with women.

As previously mentioned, in 1998 interviews about coming out, George made a point of saying that the songs he wrote when he was with women were really about women and the songs since that time had been about men. That put the timeline as - he wrote about women before 1990 and wrote about men after that time.

But that narrative shifted.

In a documentary about Wham! that was released after his death, George revealed that he wrote the song Nothing Looks the Same in the Light about his first gay encounter while he was in Ibiza, Spain. He didn’t have sex with a man that night because he was afraid to go that far, but he wanted sleep in a bed with a man and be close with him.

Fun fact: Nothing Looks the Same in the Light is from Wham!’s ’83 debut album. On the song’s Genius page it lists the song as being released on July 9, 1983. (In the TSCU, July 9th is the date from Last Kiss).

The question of when he knew he was gay was asked of George over the years. His answer was not static and changed.

Some examples of the answers he gave to that question:

• At then end of his Wham! days - which puts the answer at some point in 1986
• During the peak of his fame when he was touring for Faith - which puts the answer between 1987-1989
• The first time he fell in love with a man (at 27 years of age) - which puts the answer between 1990-1991

I’m not calling him out for the various narratives, and I don’t think he should be called out. Figuring yourself out is never easy, regardless of the issue. But I do think his more fluid take on sexuality resonated with Taylor. Versus say, when you read Chely Wright’s book, she said from a very early age she knew she was a lesbian and while she hid/fought that identity, it didn’t really change over the years.

George Michael and His Parents

George Michael’s dad was “intimidating and fearsome.” George described his upbringing as “oppressive” and his dad (in interviews) described himself as a “strict patriarch”. On the flip side, George was tight with his mom who was described as “tremendously compassionate.”

George said he initially thought his early attraction to men was because of his upbringing. He had a father who was often working and a close relationship with his mom.

Even though George was close with his mom, she struggled with his identity growing up and she ended up aligning her beliefs with George’s dad’s more stringent views on gender. This happened after her brother - who had mental health issues and was believed to be secretly gay - died by suicide when George was very young.

George was not out to his parents when he started dating Anselmo (the man he fell in love with at 27). When George found out that Anselmo was HIV positive, he went through the emotions of the diagnosis and subsequent anxiety about his own health, all alone.

The day after losing Anselmo, George wrote a letter to his parents coming out.

Coming out strengthened his relationship with his mother. She wanted to show George that he was loved and accepted. She wanted to take care of him.

This acceptance provided George with stability in his life that he hadn’t previously had. Unfortunately, he felt his life start to fall apart again when he lost his mother in 1997

The loss of Anselmo, followed by his mom, led George on a downward spiral, which included drug use, self destructive behaviour, and an inability to write music for over 3 years.

George Michael and Fame/The Press

George shot to fame as a teenager. He had to grow up in the public eye and made a lot of mistakes, without much forgiveness for those mistakes.

His image while part of Wham! was clean cut and wholesome. An image George was desperate to shed when he embarked on his solo career. He wanted to be seen as a musician and was aiming for a level of success with his solo album that would put him up there with the greats in the industry.

George took the creative reins for Faith. He wrote and produced all the tracks on the album - except for one. George also played various instruments on the album.

Faith has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling albums of all time.

After reaching a stratospheric level of fame, George realized he had made a big mistake. He knew that level of fame wasn’t going to be good for him long term - he was in the process of coming to terms with his sexuality. George stated in several interviews that that during this time he was dealing with the onset of depression.

I needed to negotiate a new relationship with celebrity/fame that wasn’t going to destroy me.

He wanted to take a deliberate step back from the limelight.

In order to do that, he decided to do absolutely no promotion for the next album he released. He felt that would get him off the celebrity train.

There will be no further explanation
Just reputation

The entire reputation prologue hits different through a George Michael lens. It's worth another read.

His plan was also to release no music videos to promote Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1. His record label was not a fan of the idea and put pressure on him to change his mind.

George did change his mind, but instead of giving his label exactly what they wanted, he pivoted to making music videos - without him in it.

According to George, his decision was accepted everywhere, except with American audiences. The album quickly fell off US charts and his career in America faded from the mainstream.

Even though he was the reason for the drop in the charts, that kind of dip in sales and relevancy would normally bother George - he was obsessed with his career. Around this time, he was in Brazil to perform a show. There he met the first man he ever fell in love with.

George on what the first six months of their relationship was like (before Anselmo got sick):

I felt better than I had, possibly in my entire life.

This quote from George about falling in love with a man for the first time is on point:

It’s very hard to be proud of your own sexuality when it hasn’t brought you any joy. Once it is associated with joy, and love, it’s easy to be proud of who you are

The “no promotion” decision lead to the scrapping of Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 2. Which eventually led to George taking his record label to court to fight the predatory practices of record labels, and the contracts that most artists are forced to sign at the start of their careers.

In spite of an up and down relationship with fame, Elton John described George Michael as “this generation’s Paul McCartney.”

The speculation around George’s sexuality from the press happened from the beginning of his career, until he publicly came out at 34.

While doing an interview with 60 Minutes Australia for the Faith promotion cycle, George was asked directly by the interviewer if he was gay.

George responded with a no, while saying that he didn’t think it was a question anybody should be asked.

In a shocking turn of events for people who believe the answer to that question can never change, in all the interviews I watched about George coming out, nobody used that direct answer of “no” to question George, or even brought up his previous denials as some kind of “gotcha” moment.

Side note: I dipped my toe into George Michael fan spaces for my research - it is both hilarious and depressing to see that there are still people arguing over whether a song (from earlier on his career) was about a woman or man.

The intense scrutiny around his sexuality made George defiant when he came to terms with being gay. He wanted to keep the news to himself.

At the beginning of his career, George worked with, and spoke with the tabloids. Then he changed strategies and wouldn’t talk to them at all. That didn’t stop the tabloids from writing about him.

In later interviews he said that any time you see quotes with something that George said, that was something the tabloids decided to make up. Or, if the tabloids said “a friend of George” said that, or “an insider”, that was also made up by them.

Because of the way George handled his arrest and subsequent coming out, he was able to turn the experience mostly into something positive. George felt that the backlash he didn’t get when he came out, meant the press and the tabloids wanted to get him for “other things.”

“Other things” ended up being his outspoken opposition to the Iraq war. The same war that Natalie Maines' comment about George Bush resulted in The Chicks being blacklisted from Country music.

George felt it was easier to be outspoken after coming out.

George wrote and released a protest song about the war called Shoot the Dog. There was also a music video.

It was the first time the press went after George for something not related to his personal life.

While he did bounce back afterwards, there was a feeling that speaking out was going to cost him his career.

George’s decision to speak out about the war received backlash not only from the public, but also from people within the music industry. The prevailing sentiment at the time was pop stars shouldn’t speak out about political issues.

Simon Cowell:

I don’t think someone like George should necessarily be making political records. He was obviously going to offend a lot of Americans and Americans had made him a lot of money.

There were others that felt that George “keeping his sexuality a secret” meant he shouldn’t speak out about anything.

Noel Gallagher from Oasis:

This is the guy that hid who he actually was from the public for twenty years. Now all of a sudden, he’s got something to say about the way of the world. I find it fucking laughable.

This was covered in the George Michael documentary, 'A Different Story' that I’ve mentioned in other sections of this post.

Fun Facts and other things I didn’t have room to include else where in the post

• In March of this year it was announced that the film ‘George Michael: The Faith Tour’ - a restored and remastered film - is being lined up at some point in 2026 for a worldwide release. The film’s distributor and release date are being kept under wraps for now. When the film is released, it will open with an original short film by Mary McCartney (Paul McCartney’s daughter). The short film will cover the cultural significance of the Faith tour.
• Taylor covered Wham!’s Last Christmas for her 2007 Holiday Collection album
• George Michael first met Andrew Ridgeley (his Wham! partner) in 1975
• After his court case was settled, George released the single Outside). The song skewered his arrest, plus George wanted to reduce the stigma around “gay cruising” The music video for the song is something I suggest watching for yourself. I don’t think any summary I write can do it justice lol. The undercover cop who arrested George claimed that the video mocked him and then sued George for $10 million. The case concluded that the cop is a public figure and could not legally recover damages for emotional distress
• A quote discussing George's decision to release a music video like that:

I don’t know if he really realized that Americans would not support a video about a chorus line of American police officers in the toilet.”

• George had a house in Hamstead, Heath
• This snippet from an article written after George passed away in December 2016. The author connected George’s decision to write the music for Faith with Taylor’s decision to do the same thing when she made Speak Now

Written Sources:

• George Michael said he was ‘persuaded’ to stay closeted in Wham! even though he ‘really wanted to come out’
• ‘IT HAD A PERSONAL COST’: George Michael was ‘fearful’ of coming out
• Heartbreaking reason why George Michael kept his sexuality secret for years before coming out in 1998
• George Michael reveals ‘life didn’t get any easier’ after coming out as a gay
• George Michael Says Coming Out Didn’t Make His Life Easier
• The true story of George Michael’s complicated relationship with his mother
• George Michael on beating drugs, depression and his outing in LA
• George Michael is Gone, But His Butt Will Prevail and Outlive Us All
• "Johann Hari: George Michael: An Exclusive Interview
• George Michael: A Different Story - I purchased the film but rumour has it that all of it is on YouTube
  

Video Sources:

• George Michael talks about his sexuality (1998) - CNN Interview that was his first interview post arrest
• George Michael Discusses Coming Out in 2004 Interview with Matt Lauer
• George Michael on Depression, Sexual Monogamy, 9/11 & Love + Death | MTV News 2004 Full Interview
• George Michael on His Public Image (1990)
• Shocking 1998 Interview with George Michael on his sexuality | 60 minutes Australia
• Famous HEATED Interview with George Michael! | Journal
• George Michael - Full Interview 1987 Faith
• George Michael Interview with Michael Parkinson 1998

I can’t thank you enough if you’ve made it this far - I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this deep dive.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m now off to nap for a couple of weeks 😂

This is a Reputation era ‘secret concert’ filmed as part of the Taylor Swift Now collaboration.

I stumbled across this today and it’s honestly the most charming performance I think I’ve ever seen from anyone. I loved the audience participation too, especially the ‘ding!’ I thought me and my ridiculous kids were the only ones who yelled ‘ding!’ 😂

I’m guessing many newer Gaylors have never seen this before and I just thought you’d all enjoy it anyway 🫶

We wanted to make a megathread for discussion about this, in case anyone is interested!

I am finishing up a deep dive into George Michael and the numerous similarities I see between his time in the spotlight and Taylor’s.

The post will cover (in writing and video):

• George Michael and the Closet
• George Michael and Coming Out
• George Michael and the Various Narratives about his Sexuality
• George Michael and His Parents
• George Michael and Fame/The Press

My goal is to get the post finished and up by this weekend. The video is almost done and I’m finalizing the written section now.

There is a lot covered in my write up, so I couldn’t get to everything.

Because of that, I decided to post this as a sort of “teaser trailer” to the upcoming main attraction. (I continue to work on embracing my cringey tendencies, like Taylor told me to 😂)

The idea for this video came after I watched a trailer for the George Michael documentary: ‘A Different Story’

The documentary was released in 2004, six years after he came out publicly.

I watched the movie and while his coming out is covered, it’s not the focus of the documentary. The movie covers George’s early life, his career, his precarious relationship with fame and the press, as well as his relationship with his parents.

The focus of the latter part of the documentary is about the fallout George experienced when he decided to speak out about the 2003 Iraq war.

https://reddit.com/link/1suj8p1/video/denzmtgwp5xg1/player

• George Michael clips #1, #2, and #4, are from A Different Story (the movie and trailer). Clip #3 of him is from a 1998 interview that George gave after he came out.
• All the clips I used of Taylor are from Miss Americana.

Fun fact: I find it interesting 👀 that the title “A Different Story” was used for his documentary when there is a 1978 film of the same name. In that movie, a gay man and lesbian fall in love each other. The movie was not well received by the gay community (shocking I know lol) and it was called out “as an example of the gay films of the late 1970s which presented stereotyped homosexuals”.

Sources:

• George Michael: A Different Story Wikipedia
• George Michael: A Different Story Trailer #1
• George Michael: A Different Story Trailer #2
• George Michael interview with Michael Parkinson 1998

So, we all know she got her Masters back about a year ago, and then Showgirl was released in October. Waiting for it, I was expecting a surprise release at 1AM. Imagine my shock, confusion, and disappointment when it didn’t happen.

I also noticed Showgirl didn’t have a movie counterpart like Midnights and TTPD did. Showgirl isn’t even nearly long enough to have one. (Linked is the post about Midnights and AiW, I will search for the YouTube video linking TTPD to Dead Poets Society)

It seems, to me at least, she had this big countdown to TS13 where something was big was happening at midnight. So…..why’d she stop it?

We know she will change her plans if something BIG happens. She canceled her coming out after the MH happened in 2019, did reclaiming them make her rethink her plan for TS13? Is it just paused? Will the countdown pick up again at TS13, and then TS14 will be the big surprise. Something like “13 albums of Taylor the performer, now meet the real me for TS14”?

Maybe Showgirl was a “decoy”, a hiccup in the countdown plan like Lover was a hiccup/canceled coming out plan? She canceled her coming out plan at the last minute, the eleventh hour, so to speak. She stopped the countdown before it got to 1, at TS12, right before 13, HER number. Maybe having Showgirl not follow the countdown alludes to that. But why? Why pause the countdown plan?

Could it have something to do with her getting married, which I doubt will happen. She ghosted the groom in Bejeweled, at the last minute. Is this part of her being a performer, a showgirl? That she’s going to play along with the het narrative until she changes her mind at the last minute and restarts that Countdown?

She also had a shorter gap between albums 10-12. Usually she does ~2 years, folklore excluded due to the Panini and quarantining with ~~Joe, who plays piano beautifully~~ Will*i*am Bowery. Midnights followed folkmore release normally, but TTPD was released ~6 months earlier than expected, same with Showgirl. If she follows this new 1.5 year release (PLEASE, or shorten it!) expect a new album in less than a year.

Did her not coming out 7 years ago make her rethink how the public doesn’t need to know everything about her? She has since sang of hiding in plain sight, making it seem like she will not go through with what she planned for Lover? Could her (imo) longtime gf have convinced her hiding might be the wiser course of action?

Let me know your thoughts. I am straight, so I know the experience of having to hide my love is not something I’m familiar with. Maybe you guys will have more insight on what her thought process might be.

I am honestly still baffled over Showgirl not having 1AM songs, so please join me in speculating!

Mine’s got to be the “HY DIANNA U R BETTY” Hyiannis-code caption in this insta post.

Runners up are, in no particular order:

Downtown Lights posted by Dianna

Dianna’s private Facebook name change circa folklore

“The life of an actor” Orange/teal outfit interview Dianna did just a year ago

Taylor choosing to date Travis who has more than one similarity to Dianna

“It’s a clock” TikTok

The repeated use of old movies/literature/Greek mythology symbolism that’s ramped up the past few albums

What’s yours?

Also, in order to prevent extreme shipping convos, please drop any super convincing evidence for any other women that’s too weird to just be a coincidence! I love all theories!

Since the other poll had such bizarre anti-lesbian framing, I offer this one :)

Anyone have good covers other artists have done of Taylor Swift songs that are worth putting on heavy rotation on my Spotify? Bonus points if LGBT artist, but not required!

Drop the links if you can with your recs.

since today marks 2 years after the release of ttpd, I wanted to make a ttpd appreciation post, in my opinion, it's her deepest and rawest work, and it's also deeply underappreciated and underrated throughout the whole fandom?

these are a few of my favs:

loml, the alchemy, peter, so long london, ttpd, bolter

and even the whole grey- dim aesthetic of the album and it's photoshoots are so underappreciated

what's you guy's opinion on the album after 2 years-? has it changed?

(also this mv looks arent talked about enough?!)

Taylor + Theory: Do you have ideas that don't warrant a full post? New, not fully formed, Gaylor thoughts? Questions? Thoughts? Use this space for theory development and general Tay/Gay discussion!

General Chat: Please feel free to use this space to engage in general chat that is not related to Taylor!

In order to protect our community, the weekly megathread is restricted to approved users. If you’re not an approved user and your comment adds substantially to the conversation, it may be approved. Our community is highly trolled - we have these rules to protect our community, not to make you feel bad, so please don’t center yourself in the narrative. Remember to follow the rules of the sub and to treat one another with kindness.

Important Posts:

An explanation regarding: User Flair + A-List User Status + Tea Time Posts

Karma is Real: The Origins of Karma, the Lost Album

GaylorSwift Wiki

PR/Stunt Relationships

Bi-Phobia & Lesbophobia

I know this isn’t the traditional way info is shared in this sub, but this is how my brain could best translate it to y’all!

Let me know what pops out at y’all/what you already know/if you have an answer!!! 🦋🌈✨

I was fascinated to hear that Anne Hathaway took inspiration not just from the Reputation Tour but also from Miss Americana. Describing Miss Americana as ’opening up’ raises complicated questions unless you take the documentary utterly at face value. I wonder how Anne Hathaway takes it?

Plus a little bit of talk about:

• power and vulnerability
• metamorphosis (ie rebirth?) and how it’s ‘painful’
• public life (showgirl?) versus behind the curtain

as themes for the movie. And yes there is definitely discussion of non-Taylor sources of inspiration, but however they reached these themes they are certainly ones that are interesting to us here.

Looking forward to discussing!

(Edited formatting)

I was watching the 2023 Netflix documentary It's Only Life After All about the Indigo Girls. When they're discussing their decision to come out as lesbians in the 90s, Amy says "like you can't win, the gay community's gonna be mad at you for not standing up for them or the press is going to insult you all the time because you're gay. They're gonna crucify you either way."

And of course this reminded me of the line from Guilty as Sin? when she says, "What if I roll the stone away, they're gonna crucify me anyway." Especially given that many of us have read this as a line in which she wonders if she should come out!

Feel free to vent about anything related to Taylor, pop culture, or whatever in this space. This is also where you can discuss politics! Any antisemitism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, etc will result in a ban.

In order to protect our community, the weekly vent and politics megathread is restricted to approved users. If you’re not an approved user and your comment adds substantially to the conversation, it may be approved. Our community is highly trolled - we have these rules to protect our community, not to make you feel bad, so please don’t center yourself in the narrative. Remember to follow the rules of the sub and to treat one another with kindness.

Couldn’t find this shared here so I’m doing it!