Taylor Swift Covers Vogue To Talk Sexism, LGBTQ+ Support, And The Lover Era

Quick reminder: Taylor Swift's seventh album, Lover, will be out on in just over two weeks. A couple of days soon after that, she'll hit the 2019 VMAs for an efficiency and potentially walk away with some (or all?) Of the 10 awards she's nominated for. It's a good month to be her, and yes it apparently keeps getting better.


On Thursday (August 8), Swift was revealed to be this year's Vogue September offer cover star, a designation she right now famously shares with the likes of Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, and more. The accompanying interview bounds from topics ranging from sexism to her LGBTQ+ allyship to the sale of Big Machine to Scooter Braun, and more. And unlike throughout the Reputation album cycle in 2017, Swift has opened herself up to talking about all of it.


"It was either investing in my past or my and other artists' future, and I chose the future," she mentioned in the interview soon after "her whole body slumps with a palpable heaviness" any time asked about the Big Machine sale, of which she was crucial in a Tumblr note posted in June. (It's true: Swift signed with Republic/Universal in 2018, a statement of looking ahead, not backward.)


This year has also seen Swift's unequivocal support for LGBTQ+ issues, most notably in her eye catching, cameo-filled video for "You Need to Calm Down." The vocal directness, she says, came partly from her pal (and collaborator) Todrick Hall asking her what she would do if her son was gay. "The fact that he had to ask me... Shocked me and made me identify that I had not made my position clear enough or loud enough," Swift mentioned in the interview. "If my son was gay, he'd be gay. I don't understand the question."


"If he was thinking that, I can't imagine what my fans in the LGBTQ community might be thinking," she continued. "It was sort of devastating to notice that I hadn't been publicly clear about that."


In a particularly revealing moment, Swift also gives a reason for why she chose to amplify her pro-LGBTQ+ message right now, given that she's long been supportive: "I didn't realize up until recently that I could supporter for a community that I'm not a piece of. It's hard to know how to do that without being so fearful of creating a mistake that you just freeze. Because my mistakes are very loud. Whenever I make a mistake, it echoes by means of the canyons of the world. It's clickbait, and it's a segment of my life story, and it's a segment of my career arc."


Other gems from the cover story reveal some interesting tidbits from the filming of the "You Need to Calm Down" video, including that the song was never played on set ("for security reasons") and that the crew was made to wear ear buds to further prevent any leakage. Swift also directly addresses the Kim Kardashian/Kanye West feud that defined much of her 2016 and 2017 public image, along with because the damage being "cancelled" did to her psyche.


It's a fascinating read, and also you could check it out in full right here. Swift leads this year's VMA nominations with 10 nods, tied with Ariana Grande. Catch her efficiency any time the show airs live on Monday, August 26, and in the meantime, get voting!