They continue the project of Taylor Swift deradicalizing and stealing queer theory for pop culture and the straight white masses

While these protests are an issue, there are much more pressing issues and examples of anti-LGBTQ+ movements and organizations, such as the American Family Association, the Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity (ATCSI), the Family Research Institute, Positive Approaches To Healthy Sexuality (PATH), among others. A majority of these organizations and institutions seek to criminalize homosexuality and support conversion therapy as a legitimate way to change one’s sexuality. These organizations are actively creating false information and bias research as a way to support their own claims against homosexuality. This process is much more complex and dangerous than holding a sign during a protest and representing these ongoing threats to the queer community as a single, small group of protesters who “need to calm down” minimizes those ongoing struggles.

The lyrics also appropriate queer lingo, similar to how Black vernacular is appropriated by White people for profit (Smitherman, 1998). For example, the line: “Cause shade never made anybody less gay” borrows the word “shade” from queer communities of color; the term was popularized by Dorian Corey in a documentary titled, Paris is Burning about New York ballroom culture.5 When someone throws shade it means that they are insulting someone, often playfully and indirectly, but it is a term and a popular pastime of those who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. Thus, this appropriation is two-fold of drag/ballroom culture, and people of color who popularized the phrase. By talking about anti-LGBTQ+ organizations and protestors throwing shade, Swift is characterizing hate speech, slurs, and anti-LGBTQ messages as “shade,” thereby further trivializing the protestors’ actions and undermining the original meaning of the term.

Another example of word appropriation is the term “tea” or the phrase “spill the tea,” which is shorthand for getting the “truth” about a scandal or gossip. While not directly stated in the lyrics, tea or spilling the tea is seen within the music video. This visual reference is first seen when it quickly shows Tan France walking, then winking at the camera, and then drinking tea directly from a floral teapot. Later, Swift is sitting with the Fab Five, minus France, around a table outside having a tea party. All the people at the table then clink their teacups together before looking up and winking at the camera, in a similar fashion as France, with the implication that the winks are directed at the protestors, who cannot disrupt their good time drinking tea. While there is an empowering message here that the queer community is unbothered by “haters,” this scene can also be interpreted as the ultimate solution to homophobia and transphobia is to simply ignore the problems and barriers to equality and equity that queer people face instead of enacting meaningful change. The political landscape is not meaningful challenged in this video by viewers being told to sign a petition and “calm down” by not being homophobic without acknowledging contemporary struggles, risking Swift’s own popularity, or calling for systemic change.