Taylor Swift has responded to fans who have long speculated about her sexuality, with the release of her re-recorded album 1989 (Taylor’s Version). The singer, who is currently dating NFL player Travis Kelce following her split from actor Joe Alwyn, has been linked over the years to a number of high-profile men, including Hollywood actor Jake Gyllenhaal, and British pop singers Harry Styles and Matty Healy.
However, a subgroup of fans (known casually as “gaylors”), have speculated in recent years that Swift is not straight, and had a romantic relationship with the model Karlie Kloss. Swift has never officially responded to these rumours or commented on her sexuality. But on the prologue of the re-recorded version of her 2014 album 1989, the 33-year-old spoke about making the album originally as a 24-year-old and alluded to the comments for the first time.
Writing about making the jump from country to pop music, Swift explained that when she had been shamed publicly for “dating like a normal young woman” and had been “slut-shamed” and targeted as a “boy-crazy psychopath”. “It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with,” she wrote. “If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him.
“And so, I swore off hanging out with guys. Dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponised against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era.” Swift hoped that changing her behaviour would “fix” the narrative, but a whole new one soon emerged in response. “I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships,” she wrote. “If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalise or sexualise that, right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.”
2014, the year of 1989’s release, was the year Swift first formed her “Girl Squad” of female friends. The group included Kloss, Cara Delevingne, Selena Gomez, and Gigi Hadid. Previously, fans had theorised that Swift’s 2022 song “Lavender Haze” was the musician, who is known for hiding Easter Eggs in her music, hinting at being romantically interested in women. However, Swift later clarified that she had heard the term on Mad Men, and that it was commonly used in the Fifties to describe being in love.
Another female celebrity that fans linked to Swift romantically was Glee star Dianna Agron. Earlier this year, the actor was asked in an interview how she felt about the media’s coverage of their friendship and the relationship rumours. Declaring the question “so interesting”, Agron said: ““I mean, there have been many stories about my dating life that are so wildly untrue. That’s funny.”
After being told that she is named as one of the influences on a Swift track, she responded: “Me? Oh, if only! That’s more because of a friendship than being the inspiration for the song. But I would not be the person to ask about that. I cannot claim that!”
