'Much #fanfiction involves “#shipping”: imagining relationships (“ships”) between #characters. When shipping involves two men this is called “#slash”, and two women “#femslash”. A notable example of slash is fanfic on Johnlock, the ship between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson.
However, #fandoms are often built around #celebrities, not just characters. “#RealPersonSlash” imagines #QueerRelationships between celebrities, and whole sub-fandoms emerge around queer ships of real people.
This genre is controversial within fandoms because it involves people with actual sexualities/identities. Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than among the debates in the #TaylorSwift fandom.
“#Kaylors” believe Swift used to date model #KarlieKloss. They also believe several of Swift’s albums were inspired by Kloss as muse/heartbreaker, rather than Swift’s very public boyfriends.
The Kaylor fandom emerged as Swift and Kloss’ friendship developed in the heyday of celebrity social media intimacy, beginning with a tweet from Kloss to Swift in 2012.
Kloss and Swift’s public displays dimmed from public view over several years. Kloss married her long-time partner Joshua Kushner in 2018, and they have since had two children together. In light of this, most fans no longer believe Kaylor “is real”, aka, they believe that Kloss and Swift broke up at some point, or were never together.
It is unclear whether Kloss and Swift’s relationship was impacted by the fandom, and whether this changed their public behaviour.
Many Kaylors have now morphed into “#Gaylors” who believe Swift is queer, or who simply enjoy undertaking queer readings of Swift’s lyrics.
Taylor’s music frequently expresses themes around yearning, secret desires, intolerant families, and fear of the judgement of others: experiences many queer people can relate to. There is even a whole annual fan retreat, called “Gaylore”, dedicated to fans coming together to analyse Swift’s body of work through a queer lens.
Many within the Gaylor fandom are also queer, though importantly – and unlike other queer spaces in the real world – you do not have to identify or explain your own #sexuality to be part of the fandom.'
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