Draft:Gaylor

Gaylor is the fringe theory that American musician Taylor Swift is gay or otherwise not heterosexual. Fans of Swift, or "Swifties", who subscribe to this theory are called Gaylors.

Gaylor theory originated online in the early 2010s, and initially revolved around a rumored romantic relationship between Swift and actress Dianna Agron of Glee. The theory gained more traction in 2014 when tabloids released photos that allegedly showed Swift and model Karlie Kloss kissing at a concert, which came to be known as Kissgate. The most notable relationships Swift is believed to have been involved in were with Dianna Agron of Glee, a relationship that Gaylors refer to as "Swiftgron", and Karlie Kloss, which has been named "Kaylor." While the names given to these relationships use name blending, a naming convention used by shippers, and the theories are often mistakenly referred to as shipping, they are distinct from shipping in that Gaylors don't want these relationships to exist, they believe they actually did.

Gaylors have also speculated about Swift intending to come out of the closet in 2019 and more recently during The Eras Tour. Another important part of the theory is the belief that many of the easter eggs Swift is notorious for leaving are intended to point to a non-heterosexual orientation, and that various themes and imagery in Swift's work, particularly recurring ones, are queer-coded as well. The theory also often propounds Swift's relationships with men being orchestrated bearding for PR purposes. The relationship between the wider Swiftie fandom and Gaylors is extremely contentious, resulting in a separation of Gaylor content from Swiftie spaces, as well as the creation of the term Hetlor, which refers to a Swiftie who opposes Gaylor theory.

Origins and Swiftgron
Gaylor originated on blogs in the 2010s, around the time Swift was rumored to be dating Dianna Agron. Fans speculated about a relationship between the two after Swift named Agron in the liner notes of her album Red (2012). Fan theories arose about themes in Swift's music, social media posts, and a tattoo that Agron got removed that allegedly pointed to a romantic relationship.

There was also a rumor that Swift and Agron were involved in a love triangle with NFL player Tim Tebow, which Agron denied on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Tebow denied on Good Morning America. In an interview for Rolling Stone in 2023 Agron was asked how she felt about being the inspiration for one of Swift's songs and about the theory that she and Swift had dated.

Kissgate and Kaylor
One of the first significant controversies in Gaylor theory occurred in December of 2014, when pictures and video were made public that allegedly show Swift and Karlie Kloss kissing at a The 1975 concert,  an event that some referred to as Kissgate. Swift and her publicist both responded shutting down the rumor.

LGBTQ+ activism and coming out speculation
Some believe Swift swapped a lyric in her song "New Years Day" from "I want your midnights" to "I want her midnights" during a performance at the Time 100 gala on April 23 2019, which followed an uptick in rainbow imagery on her social media. During this time Swift was also teasing a big announcement for April 26 2019, lesbian visibility day, and there was speculation she was planning to come out. The announcement ended up being the release of her single "Me!" off her Lover album.

Swift released the single "You Need to Calm Down", a song in support of the LGBTQ+ community on June 14th 2019, during Pride Month. In the lyric video for the song she spelled the word "glad" as "GLAAD," which resulted in surge of donations for the organization. The same night she appeared as a surprise guest at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Stonewall Riots at the Stonewall Inn, where she performed "Shake It Off" with Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family. Swift released the music video for "You Need to Calm Down" on June 17, which shows her wearing what some identified as the bisexual pride colors in her hair. In the video she features almost 30 queer and trans celebrities, as well as several references to queer culture. The video ends with a link to a change.org petition in support of the Equality Act, which she also wrote an open letter to Senator Lamar Alexander in support of. While some believed Swift's increased support for the LGBTQ+ community was indicative of a queer identity or simply an example of positive example of allyship, many others criticized her actions, particularly "You Need to Calm Down," as being performative activism or queerbaiting.

The Eras Tour
'''Since the beginning of The Eras Tour, Swift has broken up with her boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn, and been rumored to be dating Matty Healy of The 1975, who she was also rumored to be dating in____. Dianna Agron recently addressed the rumors that she and Swift were in a relationship in ____, and Gaylors have speculated that this is all part of Swift's plan to come out of the closet'''

Swift's relationship with her fans
Swift, despite being one of the biggest musicians in history, closely follows her fans on social media, which has been dubbed "Taylurking," and she sometimes even interacts with them directly. She also sends her fans packages and donations, hand selects fans to do free meet and greets with at her shows, and after following an vetting individual fans for periods of months online, invites them to her home for gatherings and performances. Swift has said that she is "really in in touch with [her] fans." This has been cited as one reason for the persistence of Gaylor. The Swiftie fandom started to grow during the era of Myspace, and with the rise in popularity of Tumblr Swift's fandom found a place to build a community while interacting directly with Swift.

Easter eggs and the Reputation era
A key component of Gaylor is the belief that Swift uses easter eggs as a form of queer coding, to communicate messages about her sexuality or secret relationships to her LGBTQ+ and ally fans without outing herself.

Easter eggs are an integral part of Swift's career and her legacy. Swift has said she "trained" her fans to look for hidden meaning in everything she does. Her use of easter eggs extends far beyond her body of work. Gaylors have latched onto Swift's intentional use of easter eggs, as well as reputation for being in tune with her fanbase, as evidence that the queer subtext they see is being planted for them to find.

Swift began using easter eggs in the CD booklet for her debut album (2006). She stylized the lyrics in all lowercase and used uppercase for seemingly random letters to spell out secret messages to her fans, which is a form of easter egg she continued to use with some of her other albums. During her Reputation (2017) era, Swift drastically expanded and increased her use of easter eggs, starting with the lead single "Look What You Made Me Do" and it's music video. This increase in easter eggs was born out of of her desire to continue to communicate with her fans during a time when she was not giving interviews. Reputation was a pivotal moment in Swift's career  and for the Swiftie fandom, who grew more tightly knit as a result of Swift's disappearance from the public eye. Reputation was also a significant moment Gaylors evolution, because with the increase in easter eggs there was an increase in things to be interpreted through a queer lens. Several ongoing themes in Swift's work that are often cited as Gaylor evidence arose during the Reputation era. 

Kaylor (move to kissgate section)
Swift and Kloss tweeted at each other in January 2012 and met at the November 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, before becoming very publicly best friends and later roommates. Some believe they had a glass closet relationship, knowing the media would straightwash them as they have done with celebrities like Kristen Stewart and Demi Lovato.

In 2016 Swift moved to Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village, half a mile from Kloss's home, which Gaylors believe was indicative of a romantic relationship.

 -the whole section below doesn't show how these facts are notable to gaylor

''Swift and Kloss went on a road trip to Big Sur in 2014 and seen together frequently from 2014-2017, attending events together like the 2014 Met Gala and American Music Awards, performing together again at the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, attending the Brit Awards in February of 2015, and being featured together on the cover story for Vogue in March 2015, with Kloss posting the cover photo on Instagram as a teaser on February 13th. ''

''In August of 2017 it was speculated that Swift and Kloss were no longer close and were possibly in a "feud," when Kloss's name was excluded from a shirt with the names of all of Swift's best friends in the music video for "Look What You Made Me Do" a each other in mentions of their close friends, though Kloss has denied there was ever a falling out and was photographed at one of Swift's performances for her Reputation tour in August 2018. There was speculation that the alleged feud involved the dispute over Swift's masters, and that Kloss was providing information about Swift to her manager, Scooter Braun, who had purchased Swift's former record label Big Machine Records and retained control over her masters. Jennifer Lawrence referenced the apparent split between Swift and Kloss in an interview in October of 2018. ''

''Kloss was in a relationship with Joshua Kushner as early as 2012, and the couple got married in October of 2018 with celebration in June 2019, both of which Swift was reportedly invited to but neither of which she attended. ''

''Swift has used the queer coded term chosen family to refer to her friendships during the 2010s, including the one with Kloss. Kloss and Swift have also referred to each other as "sisters," "family," and "twins". ''

Why doesn't she just come out?
'''One common critique of Gaylor is the fact that Swift is one of the most successful artists in history, and while it might cause a stir her career would certainly remain intact if she were to come out as queer. Gaylors have theories about this too.''' https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Frequently cited themes and imagery
social media posts connecting to love interests connecting to songs

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Eye Theory

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/gaylor-taylor-swift-gay-rumor-midnights-1234585574/

Gold/sunshine

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xkje3/the-taylor-swift-conspiracy-ring-thats-convinced-shes-secretly-gay

Daisies/Ivy

pining

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/gaylor-taylor-swift-gay-rumor-midnights-1234585574/

affairs/secret love/love that isn't accepted

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/gaylor-taylor-swift-gay-rumor-midnights-1234585574/

emily dickinson

best friend

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Examples of alleged queer subtext
Lover

Cornelia Street

https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/music/a28797458/taylor-swift-cornelia-street-karlie-kloss-joe-alwyn-lyrics-meaning/

Red (2012)
"The Very First Night," a vault track from Red (Taylor's Version) (2021) in which she uses an AABB rhyme scheme in the pre-chorus, ending the four lines with "hotel," "fell," "picture," and where you would expect the word "her" to complete the rhyme scheme the lyric is "you." Gaylors believe this was an intentional subverted rhyme, noting that Swift is known for her lyrical artistry.

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Reputation

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/gaylor-taylor-swift-gay-rumor-midnights-1234585574/

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Folklore

Evermore

Betty (and love story)

https://www.vulture.com/2020/07/taylor-swifts-songs-can-be-as-gay-you-want-them-to-be.html

Midnights

https://www.insider.com/taylor-swift-midnights-lyrics-easter-eggs-2022-10#lavender-haze-is-a-song-about-resisting-sexism-and-heteronormative-expectations-1

Swift's bonus tracks off of Evermore "Right Where You Left Me" and "It's Time to Go" have been interpreted by some to be about Kloss and the end of her relationship, romantic or platonic, with Swift.

https://www.techradar247.com/2023/05/10/is-taylor-swift-gay-sexuality/

lavender haze

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/taylor-swifts-midnights-album-release-prompts-tay-spiracies-social-med-rcna52772

dear reader

Suspected beards and PR stunts
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xkje3/the-taylor-swift-conspiracy-ring-thats-convinced-shes-secretly-gay

Gaylors believe some or all of Swift's public relationships have been beards.

https://jezebel.com/ask-a-publicist-is-taylor-swift-and-tom-hiddlestons-re-1783144899

Calvin Harris

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xkje3/the-taylor-swift-conspiracy-ring-thats-convinced-shes-secretly-gay

Tom Hiddleston

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xkje3/the-taylor-swift-conspiracy-ring-thats-convinced-shes-secretly-gay

Joe Alwyn

Bettygate* link to hetlor backlas

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

Flagging

lesbian salute

fingering the air

Gaylors and Hetlors
gaylors often use things like relationship timelines, master posts, and slideshows to support their theories

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4xkje3/the-taylor-swift-conspiracy-ring-thats-convinced-shes-secretly-gay

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

hetlors

https://jezebel.com/taylor-swift-queer-gaylor-fan-theory-explained-1848698703

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/article/disturbing-taylor-swifts-lgbtq-fans-say-theyre-being-outed-for-their-sexuality/syxwf8emj

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/taylor-swift-fandom-gaylor-report-exclusive-1234713432/

Related theories
Larries are a closely related community to the Gaylor community. Both are founded on the belief that well known popstars are queer and have been involved in closeted relationships with other high profile celebrities. Both theories are often referred to by the broader fanbase of those celebrities as tinhatting.