Ryan Clifford isn’t afraid to sing it proudly: He’s a Swiftie. But he’s quick to admit he’s not the singer’s biggest fan. That title is reserved for someone else: his husband, Charlie Bird.
“Charlie is definitely on a different level,” he told CBS News.
With Charlie as the ultimate Swiftie and Ryan’s signature blonde locks, they are Taylor Swift’s perfect content creators. And they’ve found a way to use their fandom to give back to others.
It all started when the couple went viral last year for their Halloween couple costume: Taylor Swift and her boyfriend Travis Kelce – with Ryan as the singer and Charlie as the tight end of the Kansas City Chiefs.
@mrcharliebird / @itsryanclifford via Instagram
That outfit was painstakingly put together days before Halloween. The couple made a vlog about the process on their YouTube channel. Months later, they said evidence of their hard work continued to be discovered.
“I still find sequins everywhere,” Charlie said. “Sequins and glitter everywhere, which means it was a fun time,” his husband added.
The husbands also went viral earlier this year when they recreated all of Taylor Swift’s album covers in anticipation of the release of “The Tortured Poets Department”.
The content creators turned their viral album cover project into a calendar and it has sold over 300 copies.
Charlie Bird and Ryan Clifford
“We’re just lucky that I have long, curly hair, which makes it versatile,” Ryan said.
Ryan said he has always enjoyed Swift, but since meeting Charlie, it has become something they enjoy together.
“As Ryan has gone deeper and deeper into Taylor Swift’s discography, I’ve been able to share more about my life before I met him,” Charlie told CBS News. “So many of her songs remind me of growing up, and when we listen together it’s a way to share those memories.”
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the calendars was donated to two Utah nonprofits: Encircle and Lift+Love. Lift+Love provides resources to LGBTQ+ youth and their families in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
As active members, faith plays a large role in the couple’s lives. For Ryan, it’s grounding, and it helps him remember who he is at his core. It is important that everyone can live authentically, he says.
“We are working so hard to come to terms with who we are and what we believe inside,” Ryan said. “Believe us when we tell you that faith and being gay work.”
Charlie, the admitted die-hard Swiftie, is a published author and works as a clinical therapist. He is equally passionate about bridging the gap between the LGBTQ+ community and religion. He emphasized that being homosexual and religious is not an oxymoron, and that if society treats it as such, we will lose.
“I really like pushing against this ‘all-or-nothing,’ ‘black-or-white’ version of ‘You’re this way or you’re this way,’” he said. “When creative, beautiful, dynamic people are put into the boxes of society, it is a loss.”
