Is Travis Kelce Gay and Ross Travis dating? 🥀
There is a lot of talk within pop-culture and within culture itself regarding the ethics and morality of “speculation” about sexual orientation where the implicit and explicit message being conveyed is this: Do not speculate about a celebrity's sexuality because it is harmful to do so. Now, when it comes down to it, we all know that it is speculation regarding homosexuality that we are being told is harmful and destructive. Why should we avoid it? Because it’s gross, disgusting, violating, invasive, blah blah blah. Don’t ask, don’t tell.Â
We live in a world where we don’t need to speculate heterosexuality onto individuals because it is the presumed norm - you live, you breathe, you like the opposite sex. This is America. Within the queer community, it is acknowledged that the presumption of heterosexuality is wildly more harmful than the presumption of homosexuality. The only world in which it is safer to presume heterosexuality is a virulently homophobic world. This is America.
When reading and absorbing this attempt at a master doc, please keep in mind that the presumption of heterosexuality is harmful. If these two men are repeatedly attempting to convey their love for one another and we - the only community who are actually seeing them - are dismissing their signals, are we not complicit with heteronormativity and homophobia?
Q: Why wouldn’t they just come out?Â
A: The NFL is homophobic. American culture is homophobic at baseline.
There has yet to be a NFL player who has come out who has been signed following their outing. In terms of NFL longevity, coming out is career suicide. When the lifestyle of a professional athlete is all you have ever really known, having worked your entire life to achieve it, “coming out” is a terrifying prospect. Even if Travis were to come out, he would be risking his monetary stability and he would likely face serious death threats. While it might seem silly or trivial to someone not living the lifestyle he lives, he needs a significant and constant income stream in order to maintain his standard of living. Based on prior precedent, any player who comes out - no matter how good they are - will be shut out by the NFL itself and by the audience. This means losing out on brand deals, future career positions, speaking gigs, and various roles. I posit that it is possible Travis may be able to break that mold simply because he brought a flood of Swifties into the NFL fold, irrevocably changing the core demographic. Was it the goal?
Timeline
Ross Travis’ Career + Meeting Travis Kelce
In 2015, coming from Penn State, Ross was undrafted and was signed to the Chiefs. Travis Kelce had been there for 2 years and per reports, Ross Travis and Travis Kelce became close quickly. After two years, Ross left Kansas City and played for other teams. In 2018 he tore his ACL and played in the NFL until 2021 when I think he essentially retired.
2019
Travis and Ross were known to have been living together as early as 2019. While my area of interest is not football, apparently the speculation was rampant starting around then? As mods of this sub, we have received upwards of 20 modmail from individuals who do not use our sub regularly claiming that these two are a couple and have been for a long time - this is not normal for us. Joe, sorry to report that no one messaged us about you and Paul. You’re gutted, I know
2023
October 14th – The First "Date"
Travis Kelce's first public outing with Taylor swift was a heavily papped weekend in NYC. Taylor wasn't working and could spend the entire weekend with Travis Kelce if they had wanted to. On their very first public "date", Travis Kelce brought his "roommate" Ross Travis.
TNT on a date with their new business partner, Taylor Swift
2024
January – Football. Ew.
It’s like I lost my twin… Ross Kelce wore it first, wearing yellow brick road plaid at a Chiefs game on January 28th, 2024. Taylor Swift then wore her iconic Yellow Brick Road plaid dress to the 2024 VMAs.
February 9th, 2024 - Who is Aric Jones?Â
Before Ross Travis really came onto the scene, Swifties and the wider fandom were introduced to Travis Kelce’s ride-or-die lifelong bestie, Aric Jones. While Aric may have been seen again, they most certainly are not a unit.
Superbowl 2024 (2/11/24)
Ross Travis watched Travis Kelce win the Superbowl in 2024, alongside Travis’ beard Taylor Swift. Ross - a fashion king - wore a lavender vest adorned with embroidered ivy, an iconic ode to the gayest of gay Taylor songs (Ivy) and signaled to all gaylors that he was someone we should be taking notice of.
Sydney - 2 HIMS – February 21
Following the Superbowl, we saw TNT travel together to Sydney to visit Taylor Swift. Ross shared a photo on his IG story and we were introduced to Ross Travis and his way of communicating. I am certain that Taylor knew the gaylor side of the fandom would sniff this gentle king out immediately, so I imagine Ross knew what was coming his way. He played his part to perfection! We saw, we educated ourselves, we saw, and then we applauded him. This stunt is growth for Taylor, letting her beard have his own partner around in an overt way…shifting to a more transparent glass closet for those observing.
Knowing that the media was feral for all information on Taylor and her relationship with Travis Kelce, while visiting Taylor in Sydney during her Eras Tour stop, Kelce and Ross were photographed standing by the open windows in their skyscraper hotel room. Not only were they standing by the windows, they were standing by the windows while perfectly illuminated and showing their faces. Did I mention that this hotel room is in a skyscraper? This was not just a lucky shot, this was a planned shot - Ross and Travis, in their hotel room, not sharing Taylor’s rented home. We know that Taylor had a rented home and was not staying in this hotel because it was later "leaked" to the press.
Below is the view from their hotel suite. Dear reader, nothing is accidental. The shot that was intended to be captured was captured - Travis and Ross in their hotel room. Swifities and the gen pop absorbed this as nothing notable. Gaylors discussed… Many were still mostly reserving judgment at this point, which did not last long.
Ross Travis & Travis Kelce at Sydney Eras
Our duo attended the Eras show in Sydney, an event that Ross himself memefied. Posting “2 HIMS” to his own IG page, he owned their causal and coordinating fashion selections. It is worth noting that Ross seemingly reignited Taylor’s Midnights lesbian flag crocheted aesthetic with his sunshine crocheted ensemble.
Here is a cute video of them from the Eras show that night. Ross and Travis supported Taylor and supported her fans and that was always so cool to see. Again, they're singing a song classically linked to bearding and the impact of closeting within the industry.
https://reddit.com/link/1inj3qy/video/ie47nbxz3nie1/player
Taylor goes back to the Zoo…
After Taylor went to the Sydney zoo the day prior, she took Ross and Travis back. Of course, they were photographed extensively. That was the plan after all, being that the first day was just to test it out and plan the second, “oopsies we were caught on camera”, just like the zoo animals they are. The metaphor, you see?
May 2024
In May, Ross uploaded to his IG story a video taken by fans of he and Travis Kelce dancing to Look What You Made Me Do. This song is about being forced to beard by the industry, the media, and fans, in order to survive.
https://reddit.com/link/1inj3qy/video/i9qw4x83wmie1/player
Also in May of 2024, Ross uploaded a video with the 2HIMS caption while he was at a Casa Azul event with Travis. Ross is wearing a cowboy hat, because he’s a cowboy like us…
https://reddit.com/link/1inj3qy/video/ukufdwt8wmie1/player
Chiefs' Celebratory Collaboration Party - December 19, 2024
When this event was first announced, via images from Brittany “I support rapists” Mahomes, swifties immediately ran with the narrative that Travy threw a surprise birthday party for Taylor. This then morphed into Kelce throwing a surprise wrap party for Taylor, where none of her Eras’ team members were present… It was only once Ross Travis posted photos to his IG that it became clear that this was a Chiefs/NFL sponsored celebration of Taylor and their collaborative efforts on the Eras tour and their partnership that has - up to this point in 2025 - brought in nearly 1 billion dollars to the NFL. It is worth noting that this party was also rumoured to be Travis Kelce and Ross Travis’ engagement party.
At this event, Ross and Kelce wore coordinating outfits - Ross’ suit was a pale pink/lavender and Travis Kelce’s corsage was a pale pink/lavender iris. Taylor has been explicit that she knows the meaning of flowers and is very intentional about their use and placement in her work and her persona. An example of this is when she wore a bearded iris dress on the Graham Norton show to kick off the Midnights era. In Greek mythology, Iris was the goddess of the rainbow and the flower symbolizes love and trust. It is noteworthy that Taylor is highlighting Travis Kelce’s lapel here, encouraging the viewer to look closely… As u/sluttaylorsversion discovered, the pink of Kelce’s flower matches Ross’ suit perfectly
Ross Travis’ outfit has ballet dancers on it. All three people are wearing pinky rings.
Travis Kelce was dressed as he was during his performance on the Eras Tour as one of her puppet masters. During this party, Taylor had Travis Kelce Catch-22 the iconic 22 hat.
AFC Championship (the game before the Superb Owl)
Ross posted this IG story at the AFC championship (game before the Super Bowl.) This is when Taylor and Travis Kelce were kissing on the field; he posted a sad black and white image with two emojis in the corner — a dancing man and a mirrorball, representing Taylor and Travis.
Superbowl 2025
When arriving to the 2025 Super Bowl, Travis wore a suit by Mike Amiri and had a golden rose broach. His ensemble was originally designed for a womans line, so he is continuing to live up to his fashion icon status. Confused which Travis? Yes, both are icons. Slay those toxic masculinity norms!Â
Travis’ golden rose brooch was highlighted by commentators, fans, and fashion commentators. During the first half of the game, Ross Travis posted an IG story of his Amiri adorned pinstriped leg watching the game…sitting on his leg was a long stemmed golden rosé. This is quite possibly the loudest these two have been and it was noted by all gaylors and taken seriously for the first time by everyone.
Apparently, many of you thought that TNT was “just a thing we joked about” on the sub and in the gaylor-sphere. As a result of this moment and the curiosity many expressed, this masterpost was created. Our long-term belief in the fact that Travis Kelce and Ross Travis are in a serious and long term romantic partnership is why this subreddit has held strong to the stance that Travis & Taylor’s ship name is TNT, per-their request. The Swiftie and Gaylor communities failed to call Toe “Jaylor”, as Taylor had tried to get us to and we were trying to listen to and follow the performance narrative she was setting out for us this time. TNT is Taylor N Travis and Travis N Travis - gender neutral kings all around, waiting to be ignited.
she has been telling US since the start
At the game, Ross Travis wore the Amiri Hollywood bomber jacket, in Midnight blue… It’s all a show, it’s all pretend…they’re the pilots, about to drop the bomb…
Ross also commented on the photo of Travis Kelce that the designer posted. We stan a supportive partner.
A Ross by any other name is a scandal…
u/materialtangelo9856 sent me a comment from her wonderful post on the broader implications of all of the things discussed in this post, about the origins of Ross’ nickname of Rosé. My first response was, “oh, I thought it was because he’s fruity?” While there may be other origins to his nickname, the rose is a deeply homosexual flagging symbol and term in Japanese gay culture and - I believe - in gay culture in general as a result? Louis Tomlinson flags with roses and The War of the Roses very frequently. Harry Styles, owner of a rose tattoo, identifies Japan as a place of sanctuary for him. I would imagine that Ross’ overt flagging on his IG account was unnoticed by the majority of people, even gaylors who focus mostly on sapphic history. The roses lapel worn by Travis Kelce is the equivalent of a green carnation (LINK TO OSCAR WILDE) on his lapel, while Ross Travis having a matching long stemmed rose in his lap at such a momentous event in his partner’s career was just…overt gay flagging. These men are gay. These men are in a relationship. These men aren’t hiding it from people who are truly looking at them.
February 11th, 2025
Ross Travis re-shared a post made by hwoodgroup where he was seen attending the 4th annual h.wood Homecoming in NOLAwith a cardigan worn by Travis Kelce last spring in Las Vegas. Travis Kelce had been in Las Vegas for the Mahomes Gala, with Taylor Swift. Gaylors assumed Ross was also present, which was proven accurate when photos were taken of Travis Kelce and Ross while out at a club in Las Vegas. This is what we call intentional flagging - they know the “speculation” is happening, has been happening, and that connections are being made. They are intentionally feeding it, furthering the transparency of the closet.
February 11th
After days of Rose Ross speculation, state media (colloquially called "Taylor Nation") posted a story where one of the gaylor themed responses they re-shared was from a user named "RoseWonderfulRose" - they are still at the restaurant. Same boo, same.
xoxo
1DMod
P.S. - Ross Travis, I know you won't come near us with a 1300000 foot pole at the moment, but if that ever changes, we'd love to have you for an AMA on the sub! We'd highly moderate it and would restrict all topics you wanted (like not allowing questions about your romantic life), but would love to learn more about your existence.