Addressing the Gaylor Theory (Timidly)

Because I guess now's as good a time as any...

I’ve gone back and forth on whether to write this. The topic is… fraught. And frankly I’m not interested in being publicly roasted by a subreddit full of string-theory truthers armed with highlighters and an encyclopedic knowledge of Taylor Swift’s lyrics.

But here we are.

Let’s talk about the Gaylor theory: the belief, held by a subset of Taylor Swift fans, that she is secretly queer, and that she’s using decades’ worth of hidden clues to communicate that truth to those savvy enough to decode them.

It’s a theory I’ve never co-signed. Not because I know Taylor isn’t gay — I don’t. But because the theory itself, or at least the way it’s been wielded, is increasingly hard to defend.

I’ve only ever commented on the theory a handful of times and never with much enthusiasm. That wasn’t by accident. I’m uncomfortable speculating on someone’s sexuality, particularly when they’ve never publicly claimed a queer identity.

That’s not me being homophobic. That’s me having boundaries.

And yet when I’ve said even that — “I’m not comfortable speculating about her sexuality” — Gaylors have accused me of being complicit in heteronormativity. Why, they ask, do you feel fine commenting on her relationships with men, but not women? Isn’t that internalized bias?