Fostering Queer Identity: A Glimpse Into the Gaylor Community
Taylor Swift upkeeps the Gaylor community, and the existence of bigotry and hatred towards them, too
Taylor Swift’s entire artistic body of work is riddled with queer motifs and sapphic messaging; despite Swift’s outright refusal to openly come out, interpretations of her artistic work as being queer-coded are valid and arguably encouraged by Swift herself.
“Gaylors” are a Swiftie subset who identify themselves as members of the LGBTQ+ community, while also explicitly holding the belief that the singer herself is queer. Subsequently, “Hetlors” are members of the Swiftie community who are outwardly against speculation of the singer’s sexual identity, and outwardly abash the Gaylor community.
A defining characteristic of the Swiftie community is tied to the inherent speculation surrounding Swift’s personal life, and the uncovering of hidden messaging left by Swift herself in her music, social media, and other creative endeavors.
The Gaylor subculture is continuously facing backlash from the larger Swiftie community, who believe that identifying Swift as a member of the queer community directly delegitimizes her former heterosexual partners.
The backlash, subordination, and independent subtext transform Gaylor from a public, to a counter-public, or an excluded social space that emerges as an alternative to the dominant public sphere, organized around their shared identity.
Swiftie’s themselves haven’t always been the greatest example of showing respect to Swift’s past relationships. Both John Mayer and Jake Gyllenhaal were met with no shortage of death threats, in response to Swift’s songs, which were never even explicitly identified, by the singer, to be about them.
Interestingly, Taylor has never publicly commented on the Gaylor community, or her queer identity at all for that matter, with many fans accusing the singer of queer-baiting. She has however, commented on the public hate Swifties send to her ex-male partners.
Despite conversations about Swift’s sexuality existing throughout the entirety of Swifts career, for over a decade, she remained tight-lipped about her perspective on politics and social issues, being urged by her label to recognize the downfall of the girl band, The Dixie Chicks, now The Chicks, as a prime example for what happens when country stars get involved with politics.
Her decision to dedicate the visual and metaphorical themes of her album, Lover, to LGBTQ+ rights, and unrequited love, truly sparked and solidified Taylors active role in the Gaylor subculture.
Her second single in the Lover album era for her song You Need to Calm Down, featured lyrics like: “Why are you mad? When you could be GLAAD? (You could be GLAAD),” referencing the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, and, “control your urges to scream about all the people you hate Cause shade never made anybody less gay”, with the accompanying music video featuring a number of gay icons, from RuPaul, to the entire cast of Netflix’s Queer Eye.
Swift even went as far as to perform at the 50 year celebration memorial at Stonewall in New York City as a promotion for Lover during this era, the grounds by which the modern gay liberation movement began, the hairpin drop heard around the world.
Many speculate, that Swift was planning on coming out as queer at this event, and wearing a rainbow ballgown designed by Christian Siriano. A user shared this theory to social media, with Siriano seeming to confirm by duet-ing the users TikTok, which was later deleted.
Unfortunately, the sale of Swifts first six albums, and the early start of the COVID-19 pandemic, coincided with the Lover era, meaning we will never truly know what could have been, Swifts public queer identity, if this speculation was true.
Although, many Gaylor claim, Taylor has long been out of the closet, at least, for those who will listen, and those who know where to look.
The concept of a “glass closet” has long been used by artists across platforms. As an example, Hayley Kiyoko’s “Stevie” on the Wizards of Waverley Place, exists as queer character, out to those who know to look for the signs.
Subsequently, fans, known as fem-slashers, follow alongside subtextual queer couples or characters, begging for them to openly “come out” on screen. This longing, and fem-slashing, is mirrored by Gaylor’s, who are following the subtext of a queer Taylor Swift.
Although, in this case, the longing for representation and interpretations of subtext is not between fictional characters, but rather the public persona Taylor Swift has crafted for herself.
Arguably, Swift’s public persona is fictional. In recent years, her public persona, and control over it, has changed drastically; with the level of fame she has reached over the past five years, Taylor has been able to manipulate the public’s perception of her life.
Swift’s Netflix documentary Miss Americana gave a glimpse into her decision making processes, and insight into her ability to craft perceptions. In the documentary, Swift is also seen providing explanation for visual aspects of the music video for Swift’s song ME!, to featured artist Brandon Urie.
She exclaims “Behind you, we see whatever makes you, you — emo kids, theater, dance sequences, ‘La La Land,’ everything,” she then goes on to describe the visual sequence that will showcase behind her […] And when it’s me, it’s like — dancers, cats, gay pride, people in country western boots. I start riding a unicorn. […] Everything that makes me, me”.
Unsurprisingly, Gaylors clung to this moment, noting that Taylor has total creative control over what is said about her in public, particularly within her own documentary, and what she intentionally shares with her audience.
Fans often use this instance as a defining moment by which Swift all but confirms speculation of her queer identity, placing her in the glass closet by which fans have clung to, and placed as a central argument for Gaylor speculation.
The Gaylor counter-public engages in discourse, and the circulation of texts, in complex and intellectually challenging ways, in fact, a large subset of the r/GaylorSwift community is dedicated to song analysis, aimed at uncovering hidden queer messaging.
Swift’s tenth and eleventh studio albums, folklore, and evermore, contain a profusion of her most complex and sophisticated lyrical prose. Both albums were subjected to deep and thoughtful analysis, by the entire Swiftie community.
But, for Gaylors, these albums exist as some of her most explicitly queer records, and are believed to explore themes of queer longing, love, and heartbreak in meaningful and mutually empathetic ways.
One of the most explicitly queer references Swift has made in her discography is with the lyric “you could hear a hairpin drop,” in her song right where you left me.
Gaylors instantaneously recognized Swift’s reference to the Stonewall “Hairpin Drop Heard Around the World [… which, historically…] a ‘hairpin drop’ was a slang term for letting people know you are gay through a subtle hint”, believing that this lyric was a subtle hint that she herself, was dropping hairpins, signaling, to those who will listen, that she is queer.
Hetlors response to this lyrical analysis claimed that Swift had no knowledge of this reference, and that the album was filled with fictional characters, themes, and storylines. Interestingly, in nearly every other scenario, Hetlors regard Swift as deeply knowledgeable, making no lyrical decisions without careful time and dedication.
The tension between Gaylors and Hetlors is reminiscent of the friction against the dominant public forces of counter-public discourse, the clear subordination that exists in the virtual discourse between fans of the singer helps clearly define Gaylors as a counter-public.
In Gaylor’s favor, Swift referenced the hairpin, again, nearly two years later, in her most recent album, Midnights, when she wrote “your finger on my hairpin trigger,” for her song The Great War with Gaylors interpreting the lyric to be related to threatening “outing” Taylor, or revealing the hair pin drop, during a lovers spat, or The Great War.
Being that this is Swift’s second use of the term, paired with her active engagement with fans on social media indicates that Taylor has more than likely encountered interpretations of the hairpin reference to be queer.
One r/GaylorSwift member writes: “I agree that her using the word “hairpin” again in ‘The Great War’’ after there had been a public conversation about her using “hairpin drop” on the evermore album 2 years earlier is proof that she pays attention to Gaylor discourse and confirms it”.
Queer theorist Michael Warner states:
“Queer culture [is a] a world-making project, where the world, [… has] more spaces than can be mapped beyond a few reference points, modes of feeling that can be learned rather than experienced as birthright”.
Queer culture, for so long, has been rooted in solidarity and speculation, references like the hairpin go over the heads of those who haven’t learned to look for these symbols, who haven't had to look for people who might be like them. Ultimately, Swift’s public praise for LGBTQ+ rights is not the most compelling piece of evidence to strengthen Gaylor’s case.
Swifities, more often than not, recognize that when Taylor communicates through hidden messaging, it is more direct, it is a personal acknowledgement to fans who dedicate countless hours to her fanbase. As previously mentioned, the circulation of hidden subtext throughout Swift’s discography is an integral aspect of the Gaylor counter-public.
For Taylor, hidden messages create clear distinctions between dedicated and more casual fans. In this case, it could be argued that Swift is using her signature Easter Eggs to communicate more personally with Gaylors, ultimately, if the singer is explicitly asking her fans to decode messages in her lyrics, she is actively participating in the continuation of Gaylor discourse and connection.
In the Swiftie Cinematic Universe, being a Gaylor often means you are an outcast. Taylor herself plays both a role in the upkeep of the Gaylor community at large, and the existence of bigotry and hatred towards the sub-community.
