What is a ‘Gaylor’ and Why Are Taylor Swift Fans Talking About It

With 1989 (Taylor's Version), the latest in Taylor Swift's series of re-recordings, Swift revisits a turning point in her career — her transformation into a pop superstar and the inevitable, increased attention on her personal life.

As part of her reinvention, a subset of fans took the speculation about her dating in new directions, with one group of Swifties (eventually dubbed Gaylors) latching onto one prominent rumor — that Swift's female friendships went beyond the platonic.

What is a Gaylor?

Gaylors are a faction of Swifties who believe the singer is queer. Swift, for her part, has said she is "not a part of" the LGBTQ+ community while taking about her continued allyship, which includes driving voter registration and speaking out against hateful legislation.

Still, the Gaylors have remained committed to their theories. ​​Bre, a 32-year-old Gaylor and Swiftie who runs the account @thegaylordiaries on TikTok and Instagram, says the Gaylors are less concerned with facts and labels than interpretations and community-building. Bre pointed to "coincidences and things that show up" in Swift's work that could suggest a gay identity, like a love song about a woman from a male point-of-view, but insisted, "we're not forcing anything on her, we're just connecting over seeing her music through a queer lens."

When was the Gaylor community formed?

The Gaylor community launched around the mid-2010s — beginning, like many niche fan communities, on Tumblr. Now, the theories and their supporters spread across social media, from Reddit to Twitter. Xander, a 22-year-old Gaylor, told The Messenger. "There's always something going on. I could literally open my Twitter right now and find probably three to five different [theories.]"

How did the theory originate?

The timeline and origins can vary depending on who you ask, but many Gaylors mention 2014 and Swift's friendship with Karlie Kloss, though some trace it back to her friendship with Diana Agron in 2012. Around this time, Gaylors and Swifties gathered on Twitter, Tumblr and Reddit to discuss their favorite artist's personal life and relationship timelines in forums and "masterposts," cross-referencing potentially revealing lyrics and photos.

Why are Gaylors back in the news?

The Gaylor gossip heated up in 2014, the year 1989 was released. Swift gave a subtle nod to the rumors in the prologue of 1989 (Taylor's Version), which came out today, Oct. 27, writing about how her sexuality, friendships and love life were all weaponized against her. "Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships," the prologue reads. "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."

She goes on to explain her motivation behind cultivating such close female friendships during that period: "Maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult)."

Has Swift previously responded to Gaylor rumors?

Gaylor gossip swirled around her most recent album Midnights, when members called out its opening track "Lavender Haze" and the titular color's association with the queer community. In a since-deleted Instagram video, Swift revealed that she found the phrase in an episode of Mad Men.

Swift went on to clarify how "lavender haze" makes you want to stay in a relationship regardless of how other people might feel about it. "Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it," she said at the time, referencing her six-year relationship ex Joe Alwyn.