A long opinion piece published in the New York Times that is the subject of speculation Music superstar Taylor Swift's sexuality has caused a stir on the internet. where some social media users called on the American newspaper to retract it.
The 5,000-word column published in the newspaper's opinion pages suggests that the popular singer sends veiled signals to his fans that he is “queer”, although she publicly identifies as heterosexual.
Neither The New York Times nor Swift's representatives immediately responded to an AFP request for comment on the article or reaction.
In an anonymous conversation with CNN, a person close to Swift called the column “invasive, disingenuous and inappropriate.”
Anna Mark's essay, Editor of the New York newspaper's opinion section, lists instances in which Swift appeared to imply that she was “queer,” a word often used to describe a gender and sexual identity distinct from heterosexuality differentiate.
“In isolation, a single let-down hairpin may be meaningless or accidental, but taken together they are the unfolding of a ballerina's bun after a long performance,” Marks wrote.
“These hairpin curves began appearing in Ms. Swift’s artwork long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. “They suggest to queer people that she is one of us,” he claims.
In 2022, Marks published another guest column in which he speculated on the gender identity of Harry Styles, a pop star Swift dated, and examined the “queerbaiting” allegations made against him as such.
Marks opened his column about Swift Referencing the inner torment of Chely Wright, a “queer” country musician and activist who remained in the closet for years for professional and personal reasons.
After the publication of the essay Wright called it “triggering”: “It was terrible of @nytimes to publish it. Triggering for me to read it – not because the author mentioned that I was about to end my life – but to see it talking publicly about a person's sexuality is unnerving.
ignore what he said
Swift continues her successful “Eras” tour and catapults herself to supernatural fame.
For months, the 34-year-old singer has been openly dating NFL player Travis Kelce, attracting new legions of viewers to football games as the camera routinely pans to Swift.
His love life has long been the subject of tabloids, fans and his songs. Swift has been linked to high-profile men such as actors Tom Hiddleston, Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Alwyn, as well as singers Styles, Matt Healy – frontman of 1975 – and John Mayer.
Swift herself has never commented publicly that he identifies as “queer” or homosexual, although this has been speculated for years.
She is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, which she spoke about in a 2019 interview with Vogue: “Until recently, I didn't realize that I could stand up for a community that I wasn't a part of.”
And in the prologue to the recent reissue of her album “1989,” Swift recalled that in her 20s she vowed not to “date boys” because the media assumed she slept with every man she spent time with.
Kayla Gagnet — director of digital content at Equal Pride, an umbrella brand of queer-focused media that includes The Advocate and Out — said that when reporting on celebrities, “there's nothing inherently problematic about pointing out obvious signs.”
Noticing signs of homosexuality, he told AFP, “should be no different” than the media realizing Swift was dating Kelce before the couple confirmed it.
On the other hand, says Gagnet, the reaction to the New York Times column “really focuses not on the reading of homosexuality in her work, which I think is entirely accurate, but rather on ignoring or dismissing what she herself has to say about it.” said.” .”
Pop culture fans will always be interested in who celebrities date, he continued. “It’s fair to be interested in what that might mean for their sexuality.”