Why obsess over Taylor Swift’s sexuality when there are more openly queer musicians than ever? | Rebecca Shaw
We are living in a time when we are spoiled with immediately available access to queer artists of any genre. You don't have to hunt for clues
Sometimes a piece of content is perfectly designed to send various parts of the internet into a Tasmanian devil-style (cartoon NOT animal) whirlwind. The latest one surrounds a 5,000-word opinion piece written for the New York Times by an editor and member of the Gaylor community - people who theorise that Taylor Swift is secretly queer and has left clues and codes along her career to indicate so. The piece validated the corner of the internet that believes the theory, and caused controversy in three others , including a source in Swift's camp, who called it sexist and unethical. There was swift response to this Swift Response, with many pointing out that male artists face the same scrutiny, and that Swift has a history of leading fans along with clues and secrets and Easter eggs.
While I am not personally a Swiftie, some of my best friends are, and I am an ally. I also have probably more than the average level of empathy for the Gaylor position, as someone with my (search) history. As the opinion piece discusses, queer communities have always had to find each other using clues and codes and flags and this one handy trick that doctors hate! It is not crazy for people like us to look more closely at a situation, to make sure we haven't missed something gay. The difference is that before now, queer people had to do that. We didn't have other options, and neither did the queer artists themselves. Openly LGBTQ+ characters, actors and musicians were extremely scarce. There were no hot-but-cringe TikTok lesbians (I miss those days). Literally, and I mean literally, the only way to find queerness was to feverishly comb through the subtext, guess, hope, or fill in gaps with our gay little minds.
Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney
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