For most Taylor Swift fans, it's been a great 24 hours, with the pop megastar announcing Tuesday her engagement to Travis Kelce. It's been a strange 24 hours, however, for Gaylors.
If you're unfamiliar with the term "Gaylor," well, it's kind of what it sounds like. Typically speaking, Gaylors are fans of Swift who — through close readings of lyrics and carefully parsing through the singer's public life — believe her to be gay, bi, or, in some form, not straight. It's worth noting here, though, that Gaylor subreddits and pockets can also be spaces for LGBTQ fans to congregate and not necessarily speculate on Swift's sexuality. But, still, a central part of Gaylorism and an offhand reference to a Gaylor typically does reference the belief that Swift isn't straight.
One popular place for Gaylors to commune is the r/GaylorSwift subreddit, a community of over 50,000 Swifties. The forum is a major source for Gaylor content, describing itself as a "space for thoughtful discussion and examination of Taylor Swift, including queer readings, themes, and motifs in her work and public persona."
Given the purpose of r/GaylorSwift and similar spaces...you can see why yesterday was a strange day, considering Swift is now officially engaged to a man.
The Gaylor community has always proved a bit controversial. Last year, for instance, a New York Times op-ed that claimed Swift isn't straight led to a slew of backlash.
Swift herself has felt the need to address the speculation. In the liner notes of 1989 (Taylor’s Version), released in 2023, she wrote that Gaylor theories centered on what were actually "female friendships" and that fans "sexualized" and "sensationalized" these relationships.
So when Swift got engaged, mocking of Gaylors was, well, swift. Folks rushed to see how Gaylors took the news, and screenshots of r/GaylorSwift quickly went viral online as people made jokes at Gaylors' expense.
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Less than 24 hours after the engagement announcement, r/GaylorSwift went private.
Though I can't profess to be a regular visitor, the Wayback Machine suggests that the subreddit was previously public. The smaller subreddit r/Gaylor_Swift remains open, though, at least as of this publication.
