Pro-LGBTQ megastar’s associates and fans slam writer who previously questioned Harry Styles’ sexuality

The New York Times is facing backlash from Taylor Swift’s inner circle and fans who claim their recent opinion piece questioning the popstar’s sexuality is ‘sexist’.

Anna Marks’s essay for The New York Times suggests that Taylor Swift could be hiding her sexuality from the world because of her ‘affinity for queer identity.’

One of Swift’s friends claimed that such an article would never be written about a male artist – although Marks previously wrote a similar article questioning Harry Styles’s sexuality.

‘This article wouldn’t have been allowed to be written about Shawn Mendes or any male artist whose sexuality has been questioned by fans,’ a source close to the situation told CNN. 

The New York Times is now the target of the wrath of Swifties, as well as the singer’s personal pals. ‘I’ve learned that they are not pleased to say the least,’ Oliver Darcy told CNN of the drama.

Fans of the star – who describes herself as a straight LGBTQ ally and who is in a relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce – are going as far as to boycott The New York Times for the controversial article.

‘Just cancelled my subscription. This article is sexist and grossly inappropriate,’ an X user said. 

‘There is something deeply wrong with the New York Times publishing this article speculating that Taylor Swift may be secretly queer—based on absolutely nothing,’ another user wrote. ‘This is the kind of garbage that belongs in the supermarket checkout next to the National Enquirer.’  

Those close to the 34-year-old Grammy winner question the morality of publishing the article.

‘Because of her massive success, in this moment there is a Taylor-shaped hole in people’s ethics,’ a source close to the situation told CNN.

The contents of the article are based on conjecture, and the insider questioned whether a double standard had been applied in allowing the op-ed to be published. 

Despite claims that the article wouldn’t have been written about a male – Anna Marks wrote an opinion piece in 2022 of a similar nature titled ‘Harry Styles Walks a Fine Line’ which was also published in The New York Times. 

The piece discussed how Styles ‘used queerness to burnish his celebrity without explicitly claiming to be queer.’ 

‘There seems to be no boundary some journalists won’t cross when writing about Taylor, regardless of how invasive, untrue, and inappropriate it is — all under the protective veil of an “opinion piece,”‘ the person further declared about Marks’ Swift opinion piece. 

The piece titled, ‘Look What We Made Taylor Swift Do,’ by on of the paper’s Opinion editors, looks at lyrics from the Lover artist’s body of work, which she believes could Sapphic love.  

‘Anyone considering the whole of Ms. Swift’s artistry — the way that her brilliantly calculated celebrity mixes with her soul-baring art — can find discrepancies between the story that underpins her celebrity and the one captured by her songs.’ the author wrote.

Marks cited examples from her appearance, including wearing hair colors from the bisexual pride flag, or rainbow dresses.

She also hints a so-called Easter eggs in the lyrics, in which refer to being in ‘glass closets’ in Willow or paying homage to lesbian artist Louie Fuller during her Reputation tour. 

‘In isolation, a single dropped hairpin is perhaps meaningless or accidental, but considered together, they’re the unfurling of a ballerina bun after a long performance,’ the editor wrote.

‘Those dropped hairpins began to appear in Ms. Swift’s artistry long before queer identity was undeniably marketable to mainstream America. They suggest to queer people that she is one of us.’ 

Taylor has explained her pro-LGTBQ stance as advocacy, explaining to Vogue in 2019, ‘Rights are being stripped from basically everyone who isn’t a straight white cisgender male,’ she said at the time. 

‘I didn’t realize until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.’

In the prologue to her 1989 (Taylor’s Version) album, which was released in October, the Out of the Woods singer, who is currently dating NFL star Travis Kelce, wrote, she surrounded herself with female friends because she was tired of the speculation about her romantic liaisons with men.

‘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.’