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Last week, Taylor Swift dropped a piece of news that, like all Taylor Swift announcements, made the internet go wild. Taylor Swift’s boyfriend, football player Travis Kelce, and his brother, Jason Kelce, host a podcast called New Heights. They had Taylor Swift as their guest in the most recent episode, marking the first time Swift has ever appeared on a podcast like this. While giving her boyfriend’s career an unprecedented boost, Swift used the appearance to announce her new album, The Life of a Showgirl, set to release on October 3rd.
Reactions to the podcast appearance varied. Some note how cringe it is that one of the most powerful women in the world deigned to be on her boyfriend’s football podcast. Fans of the Taylor/Travis relationship received hours (the podcast is 123 minutes long) of footage to comb over. The artwork and concept of her new album produced a tidal wave of memes.
But where do the Gaylors fit in? For the uninitiated, the Gaylors are a group of Taylor Swift fans who believe that Taylor Swift is secretly gay, bi, or queer. The Gaylors have collected countless pieces of evidence to support this theory, including her sapphic song lyrics, rumored relationships with other women (such as Karlie Kloss and Diana Agron), the rainbow theme of her Lover era, and much more. In my previous writing about the Gaylors, I highlighted the often contentious dynamic between the Gaylors and the so-called “hetlors,” as well as Swift’s own denunciation of any potential lesbian relationships in her past.
Swift’s new era got me wondering – How are the Gaylors responding to this blatant hetero propaganda? This moment feels like the most straight-coded stage of her career, mainly due to her relationship with an All-American football star (and his very loud brother), as well as her engagement with sports and WAG culture. (“Waglor” is a new phrase used amongst the Gaylors.) Has this cultural turn caused the Gaylors to abandon their cause?
To answer this question, I turned to the world of Gaylor subreddits. What I found was fascinating. On the one hand, some fans are clearly annoyed and/or disappointed with Taylor at the moment. r/GaylorSwift features a flair called “MAGA Taylor Swift,” which includes posts about Taylor’s association with supposed Trump supporters such as Brittany Mahomes or the hosts of the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast. Some suggested that she appeared on New Heights to win over “Dads and Chads” who never liked her before, an implicit appeal to the right wing.
A few fans connected how she presented herself on the podcast – talking about baking sourdough and sewing baby clothes – to the tradwife moment and a general turn toward conservatism. One suggested that she’s left her “woke” era because it’s no longer commercially advantageous. In a post decoding her appearance on the podcast, another fan noted how disappointed they are that she still hasn’t spoken out about the genocide in Palestine.
However, many other Gaylors doubled down, even with Kelce in the picture. For these fans, the almost over-the-top straight aesthetic of their relationship serves as evidence for Swift’s secret queerness. Several fans noted how “forced” their relationship feels, suggesting that they lack chemistry and their couple persona seems performative. One Redditor said they look like they are “cosplaying heterosexuality.” Another fan wondered about Taylor’s “type,” noting that if it's someone like Kelce, her lyrics about liking pretty, “boyish” men don’t make sense.
A few fans took this opportunity to highlight Gaylor history and the core tenets of Gaylorism. In one thread, a Redditor gave a pep talk of sorts, arguing that Swift’s current PR strategy and her relationship with Kelce don’t erase or contradict the many Gaylor theories of years past. This fan highlighted the significance of perspective, noting that “having free will, we can continue to interpret her actions and music how SHE gives it to us. So don’t fret, friends.”
Though he may seem like the spitting image of mainstream (read: white) American heterosexuality and masculinity, Travis Kelce plays a part in these theories as well. Some fans have been compiling evidence that Kelce is secretly dating his football buddy, Ross Travis. In this case, Swift and Kelce would be each other’s “beards,” giving credence to the theory that their relationship functions like a lavender marriage. Overall, the Gaylors don’t seem to like Travis much – some Gaylors reminisced about pretty boy Joe Alwyn when Taylor and Travis started dating – but this reading is fairly sympathetic to his position.
Kelce’s recent cover shoot for GQ adds fire to this flame. Several fans suggested that the photoshoot seems primed to appeal to men much more than to women, with one noting, “this shoot is giving major homoerotic vibes.” On Reddit, one user suggested he looks exactly like a Florida bear – and not the wild animal. In their newsletter Out of Your League, Frankie de la Cretaz contends that Kelce’s photoshoot, styled by Law Roach, is high camp. Cretaz argues that rather than uplifting contemporary ideas about masculinity, Kelce’s shoot satirizes and makes masculinity look ridiculous.
All Gaylor theories highlight a principle these fans know all too well – that the meaning of art, and life, is in the eye of the beholder. Whether you agree with their conclusions or not, the Gaylors represent a fascinating example of the myriad ways to read popular culture. Indeed, these discussions often generate complex discussions about gender presentation, the public and the private self, and the cultural pressures that incite self-disclosure.
Can something be so straight it becomes gay again? Are Taylor and Travis victims of compulsory heterosexuality or heterosexual melancholia? Why are Swifties being forced to listen to a podcast for bros? Turn to the ancient Gaylor texts and you may find the answers you seek.
Thank you Dr. Lesbian for this amazing read. I became a gaylor a few years ago mostly because it’s a far more interesting way of interpreting Taylor’s catalogue, and so much of it makes far more sense interpreted through a queer lens. But Miss Swift herself said “I can show you lies” and so I have also learned to take all her public narratives (mainstream or not) with a grain of salt anymore. She has convoluted the truth so much that we will never know what really is going on with her, and I think she prefers it that way (as would I!).
She could be Bi.