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So last night Taylor liked a TikTok confirming that she intentionally arranged for the last song that plays before she comes on stage at Eras Tour is 'You don't own me', sung by Dusty Springfield and first written & sung by Lesley Gore (both lesbians & friends):
I think it's really poignent to mention the parellels between Lesley & Taylor. The beginning of Lesley's singing career was very much focused on singing about love with men:
In her 20s, Lesley realised she was Gay. She continued her whole life only being in relationships with women, but instead of 'coming out' officially, her realisation led her to focus her songwriting on feminism & female strength. However, it wasn't that she was denying being Gay, it was simply that no one concieved of the idea that she could be. No one asked her up front & she liked just living her life as a Gay woman 'hiding in plain sight'. This all sounds eerily similar to the conversations we're seeing now of 'don't assume her sexuality' and 'straight until she tells us explicitely' that surround Taylor. Taylor's never once denied being Queer - she simply hasn't told anyone explitely and likes 'hiding in plain sight'. This whole extract of an article on Lesley could so easily be about Taylor without context:
Taylor making such an obvious nod to Lesley (& Dusty), then confirming it was intentional, seems so loud to me. It resonates with this extract from the same article, which mentions how important it is to appreciate the Gay women who came before us & paved the way for modern Queer artists, and I think that's exactly what Taylor was doing:
PS - It's also worth mentionning that the rest of her pre-show playlist was very Queer & gender-non-conforming. It featured 'King' by FATM with the lyrics "I need my golden crown of sorrow, my sword to swing, My empty halls to echo with self-mythology, I am no mother, I am no bride, I am King". As well as songs from King Princess, Muna, BoyGenius, Ethel Cain, Lady Gaga & Lil Nas X.
Interested to hear all your thoughts on this :)
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The fandom believes Taylor has subtly nodded to lesbian pop icon, Dusty Springfield, who’s 1990 album was called “Reputation”
“…Though her sexuality was an open secret to the gay community, the fact that Springfield was a lesbian is not common knowledge today, thanks in part to the legacy of homophobia that left prominent queer figures in constant fear of being outed.”
And it was Dusty Springfield's THIRTEENTH studio album!!
yes yes! i made a post about this a while back, because a dusty springfield biopic that’s been in the works for years with a cast and director was suddenly cancelled late last year with no explanation. thought maybe she had something to do with it or they’ll try again and she’ll be involved this time.
Yeahhh :) and Lesley & Dusty we’re good friends for many years!
i agree this was super loud. lesley has been a favorite of mine since i was a kid and i tell everyone about her story. i’m so glad taylor put the spotlight on a lesbian legend like lesley🥲
Taylor is coming out of that glass closet, I swear. She is trying to get the conversation and speculation to become more pronounced and popular.
Right?? Like, how else do you explain the Rolling Stone article?
Totally agree, thanks for the write-up!
Some more queer artists on the pre-show playlist:
Rostam Batmanglij (article with him talking about closeting in the music industry)
Ice Spice ("the rapper made sure the whole world knew her sexual orientation by stating, “They need to know – we’re here and we’re queer!”")
Doja Cat ("Doja Cat goes public with a girlfriend")
Not to mention songs by Lenny Kravitz and The 1975.
and Gaga!
Yep, OP mentioned King Princess, MUNA, BoyGenius, Ethel Cain, Lady Gaga & Lil Nas X. Adding here for visibility, since the preshow playlist was soooo queer for only about 25 songs. :)
This is an excellent post. Thank you. 🫡
I SWEAR TS WROTE KING W FATM
sorry I’m yelling — much excite
I s2g the jack antonoff girlies get together quarterly and and collude!!!! They all touch on such similar themes
FATm? Too tired for acronyms
Florence and the machine
I was waiting for this post, thank you!!
Bloody hell! I just listened to King by Florence and the Machine for the first time and golly gosh that song has impact. I got teary.
I liked the lyric - "you need to go to war to find material to sing"
And almost started bawling at - "what strange claws are these scratching at my skin?/ i never knew my killer would be coming from within" 😶
I havent listened to FATM in years. Gonna do a deep dive now.
Rightttttt?! It’s so fucking good and so interesting that Taylor chose it for pre-show. Like that’s not easy listening to bop to 😂
Defs a lot of parallels I totes think TS and other artists collab behind the scenes with songwriting and messaging
I feel like that can easily be pointed to owning her own music which she has been on a crusade on since 2019
Oh I totally think that’s what it is at surface level. But I also think Taylor’s very aware of who Lesley is & her story - another woman who had to fight for her success & keep who she really was private. We know Taylor’s the King of double meanings & deeper messages - she could’ve chosen any number of songs to shout out owning her work that weren’t written by a hidden Queer icon :)
It seems vv similar to the Dress dedication on Rep Tour that was for a lesbian but tied into her not being able to own her work
100% - near identical stories of hiding in plain sight and playing along with public perception & both being featured as prominent shout outs in tours.
Yes! I thought about this too.
Absolutely that’s what it is
Yeah I agree
But on the other hand it took me like two weeks to be a Gaylor so 💀
King is one of my fav songs rn and I feel like it inspired lavender haze. I think Taylor has recognized like she’s meant to be a superstar, she’s one of the few who can get on that stage and become MORE ENERGIZED after dancing and singing for hours entertaining 60k+ people. Seeing her face light up last night was brighter than I’ve honestly seen her for years. She is SO SO HAPPY to be performing again, and that’s truly rare in an artist. And that’s not me saying it’s all rainbows and smiles constantly, but she has a strange ability to absorb the happiness of her fans in that room, it truly fuels and drives her.
can someone link the tiktok
Here you are
I love that Hannah crawled out onto TikTok to drop this and will presumably not post again for a while. I love her
I love her too 💖
Interesting. Lesley also had a cameo as Catwoman's sidekick "Pussy Cat" on the Batman tv series.
This is all fine and good, but doesn’t anyone get sick of the Easter eggs and wish that she put this energy into actual activism and speaking out for the Trans & LGBTQ+ community instead?? Because countless laws and LGBTQ+ rights are being taking away every day, and she’s not speaking out like other celebrities. So I’m honestly over her stupid coy signals and need her to speak out for the community she is signaling to in SECRET. Man up and use your voice, Taylor. She has the voice, influence, power and impact that could do real help and change, and she wastes it on stuff like this because she’s a coward. Sorry, but I’m over it and need her to step it up here.
You’re obviously entitled to your opinion, but from my pov, I think you’re maybe overestimating the power that Taylor actually has with these issues. Yes, she could be shouting out petitions & sharing news etc - but realistically what does that achieve? When she tried that during Lover Era she didn’t actually have as much sway as you’d think. The petition that she linked at the end of YNTCD & shouted out during the VMA Awards still hasn’t even hit it’s target of responses (since 2019) https://www.change.org/p/support-the-equality-act - and Marsha Blackburn still got into office despite Taylor breaking her policial silence to try to sway the vote.
Right now, I believe she’s using her power through action. So far this Era she’s cast a Trans man to star as her ‘boyfriend’ in a huge music video, as well as there being multiple Queer & Trans people hired to be the extras in both Anti-Hero & Lavender Haze. She’s hired predominantly Queer artists as her support acts for tour. During her Eras show, she has her dancers wearing gender non-confirming outfits (men in jumpsuits, women in suits etc), she has men dancing in her Eras outfits (essentially drag) & she has a same sex couple dancing together during the Lover dance. This is just within the last month: so despite her not making an Instagram post about it, she’s letting the hundreds of thousands of her fans watching in person and online know what she believes in & what her position is and THIS is powerful, arguably more so, because it’s showing that she’s actually putting it into action, not just hiding behind her screen. I didn’t see any Hetlors discussing Trans rights after Lover Era, but I sure as hell saw them discussing it after a Trans Man was cast as her boyfriend & they had a vested interest. Shes playing to her fan base & doing it in the way that actually gets through to people.
None of that is action though. It’s all the definition of passive. All done quietly as a small nod to only those that will get it. So what does that say to Hetlors? Her fans don’t know what she believes unless she outwardly says it. Hetlors don’t catch these signals or know what some of this would actually mean. She doesn’t make any statements about her beliefs and what she stands for, and I’m assuming that’s to not lose fans & money. We are all entitled to our opinions, and to me this is is greedy and cowardly if true.
Other celebrities put their name on the line and speak up. During interviews, award show speeches seen by millions, tweets, social media posts, videos, etc. Taylor has non gender confirming costumes during a concert? Not the same.
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree - I don’t understand how her tweeting behind her phone considered more active than actually casting a trans man as her boyfriend in her huge music video & starting a big discussion amongst her conservative fans? She literally got Hetlors arguing that the trans man WAS a man because they were invested in her being perceived as straight: it’s exactly what her fan base needed to start the conversation, and it worked. And of course it’s showing what she believes in: because her fans can actively see that she views that trans man as a man. It’s very powerful & in my opinion, it’s arguably more powerful than her just tweeting about it & her fans reading it and not being able to equate it to anything tangible. Actions sometimes do speak much louder than words. Her fans seeing her dancers in non-gendered clothing? Her fans seeing drag on her stage? That sends a very loud message about where she stands - let’s be real.
What do you want her to do, run for office? She wrote an entire song AND music video about gay rights, used it to promote a petition for the Equality Act, won an award for it, then dedicated her entire acceptance speech to promoting the Equality Act again. She spoke about gay rights multiple times in Miss Americana. The Equality Act and the Violence Against Women Act were literally the 2 reasons she cited for breaking her silence on politics and promoting Bredesen/speaking out against Blackburn, Trump, and the rest of them. She’s done all of that AND continued to hire and promote queer artists. You’re completely entitled to your opinion, but from where I’m standing, it seems a bit misinformed.
And when was the last time she did any of that? 2019. Not since then. But right NOW is when we need her voice. Because rights are being stripped away in red states and will continue. Trans kids are killing themselves. If you want me to list everything that is currently happening with legislation to take away queer/trans rights right now, I’m happy to list them. She has not spoken up about any of this. Costumes and innuendos is a waste of time. If she wants to be vocal, great. For me personally, these silent and covert hints have grown stale on me and are simply not enough. I’d rather her just stop. It’s queerbaiting or a way for her to keep her queer fans without having to actually be an activist for the community she used to stand up for.
Sadly taylor swift (the brand) will always come first. Its more profitable for her to play both sides of the stick and just let everyone speculate. Imagine if she was openly gay… she can’t perform in china which may surprise a lot of people but she makes more money in asia (specifically china) more than the US.
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Yes she can’t win and she choses not to come out, no one is voiding her struggles, its just clear that as of this date she choses her career and her brand and ultimately the bottom line of her corporation.. bec she does acknowledge a lot of people depend on her.
Personally i found the “stop and think” phrase a bit offensive.
Exactly. It’s really disappointing.
everyone says this, but i guarantee she gives money quietly to the organizations
Oh wow what an interesting read! Hiding in plain sight!
This is so so interesting! The amount of queer music being played at the concerts is very telling, can't wait until she announces international dates so I can experience it all in person!
Me toooooo
What if she comes out at the end of the last tour?
A joe taylor break up is more likely than her coming out. Bec if TOE breaks up bec of touring and time apart etc no one would super question it.
I dont know alot about lesley, but the song reminds me of carol cuz cate blanchett sung it. = gay in my mind
I think this is a dig at Scooter than anything to do with her being in the closet… this is a reach, I’m sorry.
Fair enough :) I do agree that I think it’s about her masters at surface level, but I also think every choice Taylor makes, especially for something years in the making like tour, will always be multi-layered and have deeper connotations than is first obvious. It’s now a running theme of her using the work of artists who have been hidden/closeted/playing duel personas in prominent moments during the Rep tour & now this tour too, and I don’t think that happens by accident!
And you don’t think Scooter didn’t know about her closet, and wanting to maintain that?
You don’t think him signing Karlie in 2015, didn’t give him access to Taylor, despite Taylor not wanting anything to do with him?
What’s not clicking?
Calm down love
I’m genuinely asking a question, because how is this not connecting? If there’s a communication disconnect, then that could be fixed, but if it’s something else, then we have bigger problems.
I don’t understand your question, that’s the disconnect love.