A few weeks ago, Giovanna, a self-confessed Taylor Swift ‘stan’, woke up to over 500 tweets in her notifications and a text message from her Dad that simply read: “is this true?”
A message sent from someone in the fandom to Giovanna’s father on Facebook asked, "Did you know your daughter likes girls?".
Giovanna, who was yet to tell her father about her sexuality, told The Feed she was ‘terrified’.
It all started earlier this month when the 22-year-old Brazilian posted some thoughts about Taylor Swift’s song ‘Betty’.
The acoustic ballad had caused speculation about Swift’s sexuality among the fandom and sparked serious debate about who she was singing about.
Many believed Swift was singing about her love for a girl, ‘Betty’ --- including Giovanna, who's been listening to the artist since she was 8 years old.
“I could listen to it and think about a girl I have a crush on,” she told The Feed.
However, Swift was quick to reveal that this was not the case.
In an interview on Country Radio, she explained that the song was in fact from the perspective of a teenage boy singing about his lost love, ‘Betty’.
Many LGBTQ fans expressed disappointment.
Giovanna wrote on Twitter that she wished Swift didn’t clarify the true meaning of the song, so she could sing along to it as the protagonist.
In another tweet, she also questioned whether the singer, like others, have been accused of in the pop industry, had “queerbaited” her fans.
The tweet drew enormous backlash, with Giovanna claiming she received threats and vicious insults.
She said a few Twitter users took it a step further and tracked Giovanna’s father down to ‘out’ her.
Comments Giovanna received after her tweet. Source: Twitter
“I started to cry when he messaged me. I was very scared of his reaction,” Giovanna said.
“I felt extremely violated”.
Giovanna said while her father was understanding, the experience was “traumatic” and that her opportunity to choose when, where and how to have that conversation had been lost.
“Someone took that from me. It wasn’t on my terms,” she said.
The Feed has also had contact with several other LGBTQ Taylor Swift fans who say they’ve been outed under similar circumstances.
Some of these fans told The Feed that the ‘Betty’ debate has led to people in the fandom to being doxxed or ‘outed’.
Many are underage, and some are living in countries where the potential consequences of revealing your sexuality is extremely dangerous.
It’s forced some LGBTQ fans to remove their sexuality from their bios, hide identifying photos and in some cases delete or make their profiles private to avoid harassment.
Messages received by a LGBT Taylor Swift fan. Source: Tumblr
When fandoms turn toxic
“This practice is very dark and disturbing,” says Dr Jessica Balanzategui, lecturer of Cinema and Screen Studies at Swinburne University.
She’s researched the phenomenon of fan cultures, but was yet to come across this behaviour.
“Fandoms will often police their own boundaries in ways that encourage certain practices that are deemed ‘acceptable’ in the fan community, and discourage those that challenge the fandom’s accepted narratives around a celebrity,” she told The Feed.
When a member of the community strays from the acceptable behaviour or if a stan’s idol is criticised, that person then becomes the target, according to Dr Balanzategui.
Perhaps that’s why many of Swift’s fans reacted so strongly after Pitchfork journalist Jill Mapes reviewed her album ‘folklore’.
Mapes gave the album an 8/10 but was harassed by fans because her rating wasn’t high enough.
Taylor Swift performs during 'The 1989 World Tour'on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. Source: Sascha Steinbach
Her contact details including her email, mobile and home phone number were published by users on Twitter.
New York Times pop critic Jon Caramanica was as critical of ‘folklore’ as he was complementary but he too faced similar harassment for his review of the album.
Stans brag about their exploits publicly, sharing the extremes they’ve gone to in order to support the success of Taylor Swift, especially her recent single ‘Cardigan’.
Several Twitter users boasted about using others’ credit cards, while others created fake profiles on Tinder to encourage dates to buy it.
Swift’s LGBTQ advocacy
In the last two years, Swift has begun publicly supporting the LGBTQ community and advocating for their rights.
In an interview in Vogue, she said, “I didn’t realise until recently that I could advocate for a community that I’m not a part of.”
In 2019, the music video for ‘You Need to Calm Down’ made a direct plea to Swift’s fans and listeners to support the Equality Act by signing her Change.org petition.
The Equality Act in the US aims to protect LGBTQ people from discrimination in their places of work, homes, schools and other public accommodations.
“Our country’s lack of protection for its own citizens ensures that LGBTQ people must live in fear that their lives could be turned upside down by an employer or landlord who is homophobic or transphobic,” she said at the time.
The Feed has been told by Swift’s fans -- who wished to remain anonymous -- that it’s a fear that also exists within her fandom.
These victims of harassment explained how their lives could be turned upside down for simply expressing an opinion or interpretation of Swift’s work that may differ to others.
It’s unknown whether Swift or her management team/official fan club Taylor Nation is aware of the toxic behaviour occurring amongst the fandom. They are yet to address the ‘outings’ publicly.
Taylor Swift performs onstage during opening night of her 2018 Reputation Stadium Tour. Source: Getty
“I kinda wish Taylor would’ve said something about it,” Giovanna says. “Not directly to me, but about the fans in general."
Giovanna hopes her story can help others who’ve experienced abuse online so they know “they’re not alone”. But also to educate others on the real-life effects of online harassment.
Despite the abuse she received online, her passion as a Taylor Swift fan hasn’t wavered.
“Yes, there’s a big part of the fandom that is really nasty but the support I got from so many of them was completely out of this world,” she said.
“They were so supportive and I don’t know what I would’ve done if it wasn’t for them.”
If you’ve experienced an outing or harassment by Taylor Swift fans, please contact Marty from The Feed on Twitter @martysmiley
