Taylor Swift is always watching — whether she lets you know it, or not. As Swifties know, the “Karma” hitmaker is very intentional about dropping hints and Easter eggs in her visuals, her lyrics, and in her performances. But because of her craft and cleverness, fans have also dived deeper into her work and come up with theories of their own. Whether these theories are sound or completely arbitrary, Swift is making it clear how she feels about people discussing her personal life.
Over the years, a subcommunity of Swifties — who call themselves “gaylors” — have often taken to Twitter, Tumblr, and TikTok to share theories that Swift might be secretly queer. The gaylors often pull lines from Swift’s lyrics, as well as old social media posts, as evidence to their theories. In the prologue for physical editions of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), out now, Swift expresses her disdain for rumors about her links to people of any gender.
Is Taylor Swift’s ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ prologue a message to ‘gaylor’ fans?
In the album’s prologue, found in the liner notes, Swift said that during the 1989 era, she had grown frustrated with people romantically linking her to anyone she was seen out in public with.
“Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior,” she wrote. “I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that—right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.”
This isn’t the first time she’s addressed these rumors. Back in 2014, when the 1989 era began, she posted a tweet, reading, “As my 25th birthday present from the media, I’d like for you to stop accusing all of my friends of dating me. #Thirsty”
Taylor was very clear NINE years ago that she’s didn’t want to be shipped with her female friends but gaylors have ignored her & done it every day since. i hope they feel ashamed! https://t.co/R2MkdtEGyo pic.twitter.com/0CyCrsG23e
— 𝑒𝓂✰ 1989 TODAY! (@surburbanlegend) October 26, 2023
In neither writing did she call out gaylors specifically, however, it is clear that she is fed up with rumors about her romantic life.
1989 (Taylor’s Version) is out now via Republic. Find more information here.