The
Gaylor
Anthology
Project

Our infamy loves company

Being a Gaylor is much more than “Taylor Swift queer at 36.”

Being a Gaylor is community, friendships, critical thinking, special interests, group work, the study of pop culture, reading between the lines, learning to question what is in front of us, and most importantly, a beautiful spectrum of queerness.

Whether you’ve been here since the early ‘10s, if the Eras Tour made you pause and take a new look at things, or if this whole Tayvis thing doesn’t sit right with you, we want your experiences.

The Secret of US!

We're starting The Gaylor Anthology Project, a zine collection of stories from our community. This series of physical publications will give us a chance to hold hard copy records from our community.

Issue #1

For our first issue of The Gaylor Anthology Project we want to see your answer to one question:

What does it mean to be a Gaylor?

Submission Guidelines

Ideas to Get Started

Here are some questions to get you thinking, but we want whatever your heart is dying to say:

How did you find Gaylorism?
What were the first songs that made you question if Taylor Swift is telling a gay story?
When has the media or fan narrative around Taylor Swift not made sense to you?
How has your relationship with fan culture evolved over time?
How has your own queerness changed and grown as a Gaylor?

What Can Be Submitted

We want a variety of art, and for you to tell your story in the expression that speaks to you.

Submissions can be any of the following:

Long form personal essay
Fictional story that encapsulates your experience

No fanfiction stories of Taylor in a fictional scenario. Please keep fictional stories about original characters interacting with Gaylorism as it truly is.

Poetry
Visual art in any medium, as long as:

You can submit a digital version for us to include on a page in the book,
and you own the rights to all images used (including reference images), or you used images free to use through a Creative Commons Licenses.

A blend of the above!

Submission Requirements

All submissions must comply to the below list of requirements:

A completed piece

Our team may do light editing for clarity, but will check with you if we have any suggestions bigger than punctuation or spelling.

Factually accurate

Any mention of TSCU events must be factually accurate
Lyrics and speeches must be quoted correctly
Any references must be correct
Our team will be fact checking submissions

All images are legally available for use

You own the rights to all images used (including reference images), or you used images free to use through a Creative Commons Licenses.

No speculation, only interpretation.

A big part of Gaylor is speculation, none of us knows anything for sure. Please do not claim something as factual or “the only correct interpretation.”
It’s wonderful to interpret her art, her words, her clothing, her flagging, all that! But please make it clear that these things are your interpretations.

Example:

NOT:

Taylor wore a dress at the Eras tour with the lesbian flag colors because she is a lesbian and that is how I knew she was gay.

INSTEAD:

Wearing a combination of the colors of the lesbian flag is a common way lesbians can share their identity subtly without having to say things explicitly, known as flagging. Taylor has explicitly “flagged” before, like wearing the Swedish flag colors, yellow and blue, during the 1989 era on the first and last nights of the Eras Tour in Stockholm. These two nights “bookended” a pink top and orange skirt on Stockholm N2. This felt like an intentional queer flagging sequence to tell us about her identity.

Muses:

While it’s okay to briefly mention specific muses if they’re an important part of your Gaylorism, Taylor Swfit's alleged dating history must not be the main focus of your submission.
Please keep in mind that these are real people that we do not know. We want to hear about your experiences, feelings, and interpretations, not the evidence of alleged relationships.

Absolutely no AI material.

If any submission appears to have AI-generated content, we will be in contact with the creator to check in.
No AI material will be allowed in final submissions.

Any reference materials (lyrics, quotes, articles, etc.) must be cited according to the MLA Style Guide.

Lyrics: In parentheses list her name, then the line number(s) for the lyrics. The song title will be in the works cited list.

She sings “wear you like a necklace.” (Taylor Swift 23)

Articles: In parentheses, list the author name. The full article will be in the works cited list.

“We are upstairs in Swift’s secret garden, comfortably ensconced in a human-scale basket that is sort of shaped like a cocoon.” (Aguirre)

End of submission should have a list of full citations to be added to the back of the book.

Taylor Swift. “So It Goes…” reputation. Big Machine Records, 2017. Apple Music app.

Aguirre, Abby. “Taylor Swift on Sexism, Scrutiny, and Standing up for Herself". Vogue, 8 Aug. 2019.

Resources

Accessibility

If you'd like to participate in this project, but need accommodations, please reach out to [email protected] with any requests.

We'd be happy to help you participate in any way we can! Don't be shy, we'd love to hear from you!

A Small Disclaimer

Not all submissions may be published

This depends on how many submissions we get, the quality of submissions, how much the submissions are on theme.

Questions?

If you hae any questions about submitting a piece to The Gaylor Anthology Project, please reach out!

You can find us on Bluesky @thegaylorarchiveproject.org or you can email us at [email protected].

Submissions Are Open!

How it works

The Gaylor Anthology Project will be using blind submissions.

This means that all submissions will be anonymous during the vetting phase. As we review submissions and decide which to publish, we won't know who the authors or artists are.

Next, you'll pick a form to fill out whether you're submitting a strictly written piece, or a visual piece. If your piece is a mix of written and visual, please submit under the "Art Submissions" tab.

The forms will ask for identifying information such as name and email.

We understand that as Gaylors, there is a lot of concern over our personal privacy and protecting it fiercely. Any and all information collected through the forms on this page will never be shared outside The Gaylor Archive Project's team without your written permission, including what gets published in our zine collection.

We collect names as a security measure on our end. We feel it is important to know who is participating in our projects. It's our goal to continue to protect your privacy throughout all of our projects. Knowing who is wanting to participate in our projects helps us keep trolls and bots away from The GAP. If at anytime you have questions or concerns, you can always email us at [email protected].

Please use an email you have access to so we can reach out with any questions about your piece. We will also deliver the our decisions on publication via email to each submitter. We will not be publishing pieces if we cannot connect with the artist or author after submissions.

You might be wondering how we can have blind submissions if we're collecting identifying information, and that's valid.

When you fill out your forms, you'll hit two submit buttons. One will submit all of your identifying information to an inbox on our server that won't be touched until all submissions are reviewed and publication decisions have been made. The second submit button will send your actual submission to an inbox that we will review pieces from.

Happy submitting!

Submitting a Written Piece

Please use the form below to submit a strictly written piece for Issue #1 of The Gaylor Anthology Project. Be sure to read the "How It Works" tab before submitting for crucial information.

The Gaylor Anthology Project