Okay, So Now What Is Taylor Swift’s Giant Butterfly Mural Supposed to Mean?

“It would be nothing short of irresponsible if I didn’t begin with the Kaylor drama. Swift has a faction of superfans called the Kaylors, which is also the “ship name” or portmanteau of her and Karlie Kloss’s names; the Kaylor shippers believe the two were romantically involved in secret. There are many theories swirling that whatever Swift has been teasing for a big 4/26 reveal will heavily allude to her relationship with Kloss. Just look at the mural.

Painted by Kelsey Montague (you’ve seen her other wing murals in every IG influencer’s photos, surely), the butterfly mural is bleeding bisexual lighting and brimming with rainbows — the official sigil of the Queers — and cats — the mascots of Lesbianism. As one Twitter user pointed out, the mural also looks impossibly similar to a giant set of rainbow butterfly wings that Karlie Kloss rocked at the 2013 Victoria’s Secret fashion show — you know, that same year she and Taylor walked the runway together. The mural also contains two ladybugs in the top-left corner — ladies, noted. *loosens tie*”

NYLON:

Is Taylor Swift Trying To Tell Us That Kaylor Was Real?

“When Twitter user @mckinneykelsey said "it has never been a better time to be a long-time Kaylor conspiracy theorist," she wasn't wrong. The larger-than-life wings look oddly similar to a pair that Kloss wore on the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show runway. Additionally, their matching tie-dye shirts in IG pics? Super-gay, and I'm super into it.

Mckinney also pointed out that Swift's potential single dropping at midnight shares the same date as Lesbian Visibility Day, and this sounds exactly like the kind of dramatic plan Swift would concoct if she were to ever plan a public coming out.”

BUZZFEED NEWS:

Taylor Swift Unveiled A New Song And Music Video After Teasing Fans For Weeks

“There’s also the long-standing conspiracy theory about Swift’s relationship with model Karlie Kloss that suggests the two were more than just best friends. Fans speculated based on a series of photos, song lyrics, and tabloid-recorded moments that Swift and Kloss were romantically entwined, shipping the two on the internet as “Kaylor.”

Then when Swift performed at this year’s Time 100 Gala, she apparently switched the lyrics in her song “New Year’s Day” from “I want your midnights to “I want her midnights.”

In addition to her colorful aesthetic on Instagram, Swift also unveiled a butterfly mural in Nashville on Thursday, painted by street artist Kelsey Montague. Inside the butterfly are rainbows, hearts, and other colorful symbols. Some fans thought it could also be a metaphor for Swift’s sexuality. One journalist even pointed out the similarity between Swift’s butterfly mural and a butterfly costume Kloss wore in a 2013 Victoria’s Secret runway show, further alluding to the “Kaylor” conspiracy theory.

Fans also pointed out that April 26, the date that Swift had been counting down to for her big reveal, is Lesbian Visibility Day.”

Why So Many Of Us Believed Taylor Swift Was Coming Out

“For years — years! — we’d gathered every clue.

Kissgate. All those rainbows! Swapped lyrics featuring female pronouns. Lyrics that just seem really gay. The cats. The donations to LGBT causes. That performance with Hayley Kiyoko. Today, April 26th, the day of Taylor Swift’s long-awaited announcement, is literally lesbian visibility day.

I can’t claim to be nearly as much of a #Gaylor diehard as the true champions who’ve dedicated themselves to combing every last social media post, every public appearance, every exchange — however brief or seemingly insignificant — for evidence of Taylor’s queerness (and/or evidence of a romantic relationship with her sometimes-bff Karlie Kloss). But there’s always been a deep, deep part of me that suspected one of the century’s biggest pop stars, as maniacally loved as she is deeply loathed the world over, plays (at least some of the time) for the girl’s team.

But particularly in the last few days, I’ve lost my head completely. I wouldn’t even call myself a Taylor fan, but I became a full-on #Gaylor truther, yelling at all of my colleagues that, surely, this famous lady was going to come out — as bi, as gay, as something. Jill Gutowitz’s investigations at Vulture had me hooked. The mural Taylor commissioned, revealed in Nashville yesterday, could not look more like the wings Karlie wore at the Victoria Secret show in 2013 — the year both she and Taylor walked in the show. Why would Taylor change some lyrics to “her” this week, of all weeks? Why???”

AUTOSTRADDLE:

Taylor Swift Didn’t Come Out But She Sure Did Make a Gay Music Video

“Taylor Swift sure did whip up our frenzied speculation that she was going to come out tonight with the release of her new music video. First of all, she showed up at the NFL draft in Nashville wearing a pansexual pride flag as a dress to talk to lesbian icon Robin Roberts who was wearing pantsuit, okay? And then she announced the new single was going to be called “ME!” and there’s a butterfly on the album cover and also the song is a collab with Panic! At The Disco pansexual heartthrob Brendon Urie. Gay, gay, gay, gay!

Alas! She did not come out!

But the music video is gay as all hell. Rainbows, a thousand women in suits and ties, unicorns, cats on cats on cats.

Surprising a Gay Couple - February 23, 2019

Taylor surprised Alex Goldschmidt and Ross Girard at their engagement party. Taylor sang King of My Heart for them as well!

ELLE Essay - March 6, 2019

For the US version of Taylor’s Elle article, she wrote about 30 things she’s learned in the last 30 (technically 29) years.

Here’s a quote that really stood out:

“We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears.”

Sounds an awful lot like this part of her pride speech right?

“But it’s even more brave to be honest about your feelings and who you love when you know that that might be met with adversity from society.”

If you pay close attention to the numbers in the essay, the colors resemble the lesbian pride flag (different shades of red and pink). Here’s Taylor in her lesbian pride flag dress from tour too!

Rainbow Instagram Post – March 14, 2019

TEP Donation – April 8, 2019

Taylor donated $113,000 to Tennessee Equality Project, an organization that supports LGBT rights. Mike Curb from Curb Records also matched Taylor’s donation!

Single Announcement – April 13, 2019

Last October, Taylor posted this picture of her and Andrea playing Scrabble. Seems harmless right? Hahaha, no. This is Taylor Swift after all?? Fans speculated that because of the caption and the fact that National Scrabble Day is April 13th, that something would be happening that day. April 13th is also a day that was stamped on the calendar Taylor released.

Fans ended up being correct. On April 13th, Taylor announced that something (presumably a single) would be released on April 26th, 2019. April 26th also happens to be Lesbian Visibility Day. Coincidence? I think not. Here’s another post with tons of notes pointing out what day the 26th is as well. There’s no way Taylor didn’t know what day this was. 

Yellow Suit & Rainbow Rings – April 14, 2019

Taylor posted a close up of what appears to be her in a yellow suit wearing two rainbow rings.

It was eventually noticed that Taylor was wearing the two rainbow rings on her ring finger on her right hand. Here’s a post explaining more about what that means. There’s been heavy speculation that her and Karlie are engaged (I’ve also gotten it confirmed 4 times) so Taylor wearing those rings on that ring finger is quite interesting. 

TIME 100 Gala - April 23, 2019

While performing New Year's Day at the gala, Taylor very clearly sings "I want HER midnights" not once... But TWICE. It happens around the 21:15 and 21:58 mark. The second time is much clearer than the first, as it seems she worked up more courage throughout the song. Obviously this was important for many reasons!!

Other than this iconic moment, this is one of the clearest "hers" we've ever gotten from Taylor.

A few days later, the media started to pick up on it as well:

Vulture

“My personal favorite theory hails from the Kaylor shippers, the faction of Swifties that believes that Taylor Swift and her former BFF Karlie Kloss were romantically involved. The theory is that Swift has been dropping hints about her love for Karlie Kloss since the Reputation era. On Tuesday night, Kaylor shippers picked up on something crucial: During Taylor’s performance of “New Years Day” at the TIME 100 Gala, Swift seemingly changed the lyrics from “I want your midnights” to “I want her midnights” not once, but twice. “New Years Day” is the final track on Reputation, which, in theory, could segue into the “next chapter…”

Buzzfeed News

“Then when Swift performed at this year’s Time 100 Gala, she apparently switched the lyrics in her song “New Year’s Day” from “I want your midnights to “I want her midnights.”

Single Release - April 26, 2019

The song is about individuality, and the video is chock-full of rainbows. Here's a great analysis of the video. It's all very gay.

V Magazine Article - April 28, 2019

V Magazine wrote an article noting the queer undertones to the new single, and Taylor liked it on Twitter and Tree retweeted it.

ME! Lyric Video - May 1, 2019

A smaller nod to her queerness, but worth noting I think:

Entertainment Weekly Cover & Interview - May 9, 2019

On the cover, Taylor is seen wearing a pride pin. She also confirmed in her likes on Tumblr that it *is* a pride pin, shutting down any talk that it isn't. Taylor also liked this on Tumblr in support of her queer fans after the cover dropped.

As part of the spread, Taylor talked about how intoxicating, lovable and sexy Jodie Comer is as Villanelle in Killing Eve. Killing Eve is a show that revolves around Villanelle (a psychopathic assassin) and Eve (a MI6 agent) that are obsessed with each other. Taylor also talked about being obsessed with Killing Eve's creator, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and talked about how she likes Fleabag (another one of PWB's shows). In an interview after the BAFTA's in May of 2019, Jodie said she ran into Taylor at the Globes earlier that year and that Taylor said she watched Doctor Foster, another show Jodie was in. Seems like Taylor binged all of Jodie's shows just like the rest of us. She's truly one of us!

On top of that, Taylor noted that she likes King Princess, a queer artist that makes explicitly queer music. Her latest single is called Pussy is God. That means that Taylor is familiar with King Princess, Hayley Kiyoko, and Kehlani (Taylor added Honey to a playlist).

Within the spread Taylor also said:

“This time around I feel more comfortable being brave enough to be vulnerable, because my fans are brave enough to be vulnerable with me. Once people delve into the album, it’ll become pretty clear that that’s more of the fingerprint of this — that it’s much more of a singer-songwriter, personal journey than the last one.”

Which is very reminiscent of her Pride speech from June of 2018 when she said:

“You guys, June is Pride Month, and I think a lot about how it’s very brave to be vulnerable about your feelings in any sense, in any situation, but it’s even more brave to be honest about your feelings and who you love when you know that that might be met with adversity from society…”

She also said something similar in her ELLE essay in March of 2019:

"We have to live bravely in order to truly feel alive, and that means not being ruled by our greatest fears."

Playlist by ME! - May 24 and May 31, 2019

Taylor created a playlist for Apple Music that included many LGBT artists explicitly singing about women. Here are a few of them:

Holy - King Princess (only on the first version)

Cheap Queen - King Princess

Back in My Arms - Carlie Hanson

Follow My Girl - The Japanese House

I Want to Live with You - Alex Lahey

When promoting her playlist using her animoji, she was wearing a sweater with a pride heart on it as well.

🌈HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!!🌈- June 1, 2019

In kicking off pride month, Taylor took to Instagram to post a copy of the letter she sent Senator Alexander in regards to the Equality Act the House passed.

Within her letter and Instagram caption, she used language that appeared to include herself within the LGBT community. She proceeded to like these posts on Tumblr as well (x) (x) (x)

Weinstein Company’s Pre-Oscars Party - March 1st, 2014

Vanity Fair Oscars Party - March 2nd, 2014

Big Sur Road Trip - March 2014 (x)

The date is unknown, but we think they went on this trip near the end of February considering there was a big gap between February 23rd and March 1st in terms of Taylor being papped.

It was discovered that the place they stayed was extremely coupley, and secluded. 

Lunch at The Butcher’s Daughter - April 3rd, 2014 (x)

During lunch, Karlie switched spots with Taylor so she could shield Taylor from the paps.

Papped grabbing dinner - April 15th, 2014 (x)

They hit up the gym, before heading to dinner with one another. 

They both have a thing for looking at each other’s butt I see.

Papped leaving the gym - April 28th, 2014 (x)

Dinner party with Toni and friends - May 2nd, 2014 (IG link)

Harry Josh Pre Met Gala Party - May 4th, 2014 (x)

Met Gala - May 5th, 2014 (x)

Racing back to Karlie - June 13th, 2014

Taylor’s Red Tour finished up June 12th, and Taylor flew right back to Karlie the next day. 

The candids where it looked like they were arguing over who was going to pick up their kid up from practice - June 18th, 2014

Taylor arriving at Karlie’s place - June 20th, 2014

Weekend in Rhode Island - June/July 2014

Lunch at Sarabeth’s - July 15th, 2014 (x)

Karlie had a shoot after this lunch date, but when she was finished, she went back to Taylor’s apartment to cook dinner. 

Gym/Lunch Outing - July 21st, 2014 (x)

I would like to point out that the bodyguard AND Karlie were both holding the door... There was no reason for Taylor to try and grab the door. Unless you know, she wanted to touch Karlie. 

Gym Outing - July 22nd, 2014 (x)

Girls night w/ Kimby - July 23rd, 2014

Karlie clearly doesn’t know where Taylor’s waist is, and still doesn’t to this day.

Ingrid Michaelson Concert - July 31st, 2014 (x)

The night started off by one of Karlie’s childhood friends, Davis, posting this picture of Taylor.

They all went to the show, and this video was uploaded on Instagram. 

Lastly, during an interview Ingrid talked about Taylor and Karlie being in attendance at her show, and this is what she had to say:

Ingrid: ‘Are you coming to the afterparty?’

Taylor and Karlie: ‘No, we, I, have an early shoot.’

Ingrid: ‘What do you do?’

Taylor: ‘She’s a Victoria’s Secret supermodel angel woman.’

So from what Ingrid said, we can gather that Karlie and Taylor went home with one another that night, Karlie was the only one with an early shoot, but Taylor still went home early with her so she could spend more time with her, Ingrid talks about them in the ‘we’ sense which in my opinion is very coupley, and Taylor flipped out cause Ingrid didn’t know who Karlie was. 

Karlie’s Birthday - August 3rd, 2014

Taylor posted the picture below for Karlie’s birthday (x)

Karlie papped leaving Taylor’s - August 6th, 2014

Living Together Rumors - August 13th, 2014

In August, rumors began circulating that Karlie and Taylor were living with one another. Some of us believe the Rolling Stones article Taylor did where she showed Karlie had her own bedroom (lol we all know where she really stays) is what sparked the rumors. On August 26th, Karlie and Josh attended the US Open to help fight off the rumors that Taylor and Karlie were living together. There was supposedly a kiss cam at the tennis match as well, but Karlie and Josh decided not to partake in it. 

Lunch date at The Honor Bar in Beverly Hills - September 17th, 2014 (x)

IKYWT iHeart Radio Music Festival Slip Up - September 21st, 2014

Only a few days after Taylor and Karlie had lunch at The Honor Bar, Taylor performed at the iHeart Music Festival. It was during her performance of IKYWT that we got the clearest version yet of Taylor singing, ‘That SHE never loved me.’

Taylor posts a picture of her, Austin, and Karlie - October 21st, 2014 

Taylor even says Karlie feels like family (x)

Latergram/Lunch Debacle - October 26th, 2014

Before 1989 release, Josh posted this on the 25th

Then the next day Karlie posted this 

They were trying to make it seem like they were in Burma again, and we know for a fact they weren’t trying to play this off like a latergram because Kimby had commented on Karlie’s post telling them to have fun..... When you clicked on what Karlie had geo-tagged the picture as, NYC popped up.

To make this even funnier, she was at lunch with Taylor (after her GMA performance) when she posted the picture “with” Josh.

I personally think they created this distraction/diversion so people wouldn’t speculate that some of the songs on 1989 were about Karlie. Cause after all she’s has a boyfriend right? Wrong, more like a beard. 

See this post for all of this explained in greater detail.

Knicks Date - October 30th, 2014 (x)

Does Karlie have a magnet in her shoulder or what?

Grabbing Taylor’s arm

When doesn’t Karlie give Taylor heart eyes?

So proud. 

Shopping at Sephora and ABC Carpet in NYC - November 12th, 2014 (x)

Karlie did some last minute shopping with Taylor before taking off for Paris. 

Had to give bae a hug (x)

In this video you can see Taylor showing Karlie something on her phone and Karlie grabbing her arm. 

Vogue Shoot (when it was shot) - November 19th, 2014

Karlie posted this on Instagram, and we now know it was taken during their Vogue shoot. 

American Music Awards - November 23rd, 2014 (x)

Karlie’s an ass grabber pass it on

Sneaking touches I see. 

Karlie ‘heart eyes’ Kloss emerges once again....

Lots of hugging (x)

And holding hands (x)

Can’t forget the hip rubbing either!

So in love. 

Karlie acting adorable after Taylor performed (Sam knows lol)

I would just strongly suggest going through my AMAs tag since this outing was adorable. 

Girls night w/ the squad - November 24th, 2014 (IG link)

Kissgate - December 4th, 2014 (x)

If you are unaware of what Kissgate is, I would suggest reading this post before looking at the gifs just so it’s understood how much damage that night caused.

So we had face and boob grabbing from a very drunk Taylor (a cheek kiss I think too). Karlie didn’t even flinch. (x)

Tummy grabs as well...

Lots of hugging (I keep writing this, but it’s a common theme w/ these two) (x)

They’re just extremely comfortable and intimate with each other. 

Taylor was drunk, yet she didn’t miss a beat in grabbing Karlie’s hand at all. She didn’t even need to look, she just knew it was going to be there.

Taylor also likes to rub Karlie’s cheek.

Three words to conclude Kissgate, screw Kathy Parks. 

VSFS 2014 - December 9th, 2014 (x)

The show was filmed in November, but did not premiere until the 9th of December. Kissgate had only happened 5 days before the show was set to premiere, and because Taylor knew how gay/obvious her parts with Karlie were, she attempted to conduct some pre damage control. Over a tweet, Taylor asked the media to quit accusing all her friends of dating her for her birthday.

So first off, we’ve got Taylor looking at Karlie’s boobs.

Then we have her cheering for Karlie. Which, Taylor liked a post of this gif the day of Kissgate.

Taylor also liked a post with the gif below in it. Fun fact, Karlie’s looking at Taylor.

Taylor didn’t stop there though, she also liked the picture below the night of Kissgate as well. I would say she did a little pre-gaming before the actual concert?

This is what I call a power couple pose.

Taylor’s so proud.

When bae gives you the look...

Taylor also has a thing for running after Karlie.

Holding hands everywhere was again a necessity. 

Even at the afterparty.

They were so happy.

Taylor is apparently an ass grabber as well. She #confirmed this by liking a post calling her out on it.

Behati is me.

I have a feeling Taylor really enjoyed filming this.

Lastly, my favorite gif of all gifs. 

The viewing party on December 9th also delivered.

And this tweet to top it all off. 

Karlie papped leaving Taylor’s - December 11th, 2014

Karlie papped leaving Taylor’s after shooting the BBF Vogue Video - December 12th, 2014

Taylor’s Birthday and Jingle Ball - December 13th, 2014

The night started off with Kimby and Karlie attending Taylor’s Jingle Ball performance. 

Afterwards, Karlie went back to Taylor’s to celebrate Taylor’s birthday. Clearly it’s not a party unless there’s a photobooth.

Taylor’s lipstick also somehow managed to become smudged while in the photobooth. (x)

Swiftmas - December 2014

Karlie helped Taylor wrap gifts on at least two occasions while Taylor was conducting ‘Swiftmas’ - In this video you can hear Karlie laugh at around 1:46, and in the picture below Taylor is wearing a different outfit than she was when Karlie laughed while filming her. Two outfits, two different days. We will never know, but I would like to think Karlie was filming her while wearing the santa hat as well. 

Now that the timeline from 2013-2014 is complete, I just want to touch on two songs from 1989 that we believe to be about Karlie.

You Are In Love

Taylor claims this song is about Jack and Lena, but Jack had no clue about it until October, and clearly certain lyrics didn’t stick out to him. If this song was written about him and Lena, you would think he would have been able to pinpoint lyrics inspired by their relationship, yet he couldn’t.

However, quite a few of the lyrics from this song can be tied back to things Karlie and Taylor have done, or just tie back to Karlie in general.

‘The light reflects, the chain on your neck’ - Karlie has a gold necklace with a ‘K’ on it, and she gave Taylor on that has a ‘T’ on it.

‘You can feel it on the way home’ - Taylor captioned one of her Big Sur posts of her and Karlie with this lyric

‘One night he wakes, strange look on his face / Pauses, then says, you’re my best friend’ - Taylor and Karlie are best friends

‘You two are dancing in a snow globe round and round’ - When Taylor and Karlie were dancing on the runway during IKYWT at the 2013 VS show, the venue looked like an actual snow globe

Wildest Dreams

There’s a few lyrics in this song that pop out of me, and why I believe this song is about Karlie.

‘He said, let’s get out of this town / Drive out of the city, away from the crowds’ - This line reminds me of them getting out of town, and taking their trip to Big Sur.

‘He's so tall and handsome as hell’ - Karlie is pretty damn tall and handsome. Boyfriend Karlie ftw.

‘I said, No one has to know what we do / His hands are in my hair, his clothes are in my room’ - The whole “no one has to know what we do” line gives me closeted/gay vibes.

Another reason I think this song is about Karlie is just because of the message being sent. After Taylor and Dianna ended, it makes sense why Taylor would be nervous/scared her relationship with Karlie was going to end the way it did with Dianna. It seems like Taylor forms a pessimistic (but sensible) view on how she thinks this relationship is going go.

There’s also a video Karlie did for Glamour where they play Wildest Dreams in the van, and this is her reaction