Personally I've thought for a while that Taylor is gay and inching her way out of the closet. I also think she's a privileged white woman who moves in luvvie Hollywood type circles. Her exposure to trans women and non-binary people are mostly the gay male type or the androgynous lesbian type. She only sees one side of the issue, so of course she comes out swinging on behalf of her friends.
I do think it's also a little more self-interested than wanting to defend her friends though. She has cultured a VERY hetero image over the course of her career. Since splitting from her label she's tried to fight that, but it's obviously a process. Her fans won't adjust to the new her overnight. What she's trying to do now is link herself with "the LGBT community" so the connection is there in people's minds without her having to make it personal. Speaking on trans issues is an easy way for her to do that. If she decides to stay in the closet after all, she can say she was just being an ally - because it's obvious she's not trans herself. If she was to campaign this hard on behalf of lesbians, I think people would start to ask if she has skin in the game herself, and she would be forced to make a statement one way or the other.
Just my opinion, of course, but I think Taylor has come close to coming out and then got cold feet quite a few times over the last few years. I wish her well with it, but I hope she realizes that the likes of Tumblr and Twitter don't represent reality. There has been a real turning of the tide among lesbian and bi women on the trans issue.
We can't speak without being shouted down, but what we can do is quietly disengage from celesbians who betray us on that front. Ellen Page used to be hugely popular among lesbians, but you hardly hear of her now. Same with Tegan and Sara. Hannah Gadsby's new show has also failed to make waves the way her previous one did. We notice when someone who is rich or safe in a long term relationship sells the rest of us down the river to cotton ceiling rhetoric. And we are getting sick of this shit. Just look at the runaway popularity of Gentleman Jack - a straightforward Victorian lesbian love story, sans gender identity wank - compared with the lack of interest in the revived L Word, "Generation Q" or whatever it's called. I instantly looked at that and knew it wasn't for me. Sure enough, I've seen and heard very little about it.
You'd think their PR people would make the connection. Things that had a huge lesbian audience mysteriously lose their appeal when the gender identity stuff starts getting pushed at our expense. Gee, I wonder why?
Taylor has a surprisingly big lesbian fanbase, and will want their support if she does decide to come out. She'll also want the support of normal, non-internet activist type people. Throwing in her lot so firmly with trans activists will derail that. She'll become Jameela Jamil and scupper her own support.
Long story short, I wasn't surprised but I cringed to see it.