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I thought the first time I heard Dress offReputationwas the loudest Taylor Swift couldmake me gasp in lesbian.
It could open for an Indigo Girls show and then just never cede the stage.
It could dethroneKing Princess.
UMMMM????
BETTY IS SO GAY?????
IS ANYONE ELSE HEARING THIS?????
Im pretty sure she borrowed that Romeo and Juliet idea from somebody else.
Heres another one about a boy and a girl.Wrong.
So when shes singing as James, telling a story about James, shes telling a story about herself.
(This would not be the first time shes used a male pseudonym in her music.Ahem,Nils.)
So this is a story about James (Taylor) and Betty.
Which is, not for nothing, just a very queer name.
This is simply a fact.
Slept next to her, but I dreamt of you all summer long, Swift sings.
The you is Betty.
James is still a woman, lest the curse of compulsory heteronormativity venture to convince you otherwise.
In the first verse, Betty switches homeroom classes.
James assumes this is because of her.
The song itself has a little Kiss Me Sixpence None the Richer energy, complete with a harmonica.
Betty, one time I was riding on my skateboard.
When I passed your house, its like I couldnt breathe, she sings.
We meet Inez, the class gossip.
(Inez and James are also the names of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynoldss daughters.
As though we could ever forgetthoseinfamous fourth of July photosduring the I Heart TS Tom Hiddleston era.
Mostly though, this is another compelling reason James is, in fact, a woman.)
You heard the rumors from Inez.
You cant believe a word she says, most times, but this time it was true.
Suddenly its 2014 and Taylor Swift has just pivoted to pop and released1989.
The rumors are terrible and cruel, but, honey, most of them are true.
The rumors about Swifts sexuality, and herpurported not-just-a-friendship with Karlie Kloss, have run rampant for years.
And maybe, just maybe, shes been trying to tell us we should believe them.
Here again, Swift does what she did on Dress, where she perfectly encapsulated an incredibly gay experience.
On Dress, its what it is like to be falling in love with another woman.
James somehow wrongs Betty, seemingly by not dancing with her at a school dance.
James sees Betty dancing with another guy and leaves her there.
Thats the end for them.
just close your eyes.
Someone who is not you and who is also a man.
Of course you leave.
Of course youre hurt.
Which brings us to a chorus full of longing.
But if I just showed up at your party.
Would you have me?
Would you want me?
But in the other, Betty leads James to a secret garden.
In the garden would you trust me if I told you it was just a summer thing?
The narrator here is a teenager; she doesnt know anything.
The world is confusing and their emotions are terrifying.
But I know I miss you, Swift sings.
In the end, James heads for Bettys door.
We dont find out how it goes.
The song fades out on James reminiscing about kissing each other in a car stopped at a streetlight.A streetlight!
A streetlight!Theres a line in Cornelia Street about streetlights.
One where Swift herself used to live and was frequently spotted with Kloss.
Or should I say Karlie ELIZABETH Kloss.
yo picture that Pepe Silvia chart fromIts Always Sunny in Philadelphiaas you connect all these LGBT-clues.
Everything about this song screams queer.
(If you dont believe me yo go directly to Twitter or Tumblr and search betty gay.
Bring a snack and some water, youre going to be reading a while.)
But is this a coded message from Taylor Swift about Taylor Swifts sexuality?
Honestly, thats for you to decide.
Maybe she wrote this oneforthe gays.
