Miley Cyrus is taking some serious heat for controversial statements she made about identifying as LGBTQ+ this weekend.
In an Instagram Live video posted on Sunday, she complimented her new romantic interest Cody Simpson, while simultaneously angering social media users over her LGBTQ+ comments and throwing shade at Liam Hemsworth, her estranged husband who reportedly filed for divorce in August.
"There are good men out there, guys, don't give up,” the 26-year-old artist says in the video of Simpson. “You don't have to be gay, there are good people with dicks out there, you've just got to find them. You've got to find a dick that's not a dick, you know? I always thought I had to be gay, because I thought all guys were evil, but it's not true. There are good people out there that just happen to have dicks.”
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A representative for Cyrus hasn’t responded to Refinery29's request for comment, but Cyrus responded to the backlash she got about the video on Twitter Monday afternoon. "I was talking shit about sucky guys, but let me be clear, YOU don't CHOOSE your sexuality," she wrote. "You are born as you are. IT has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of.
Cyrus founded the nonprofit, the Happy Hippie Foundation, which secures and provides resources to LGBTQ youth, homeless young people, and other vulnerable communities. Cyrus herself came out as pansexual and genderfluid back in 2015.
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 21, 2019
Many folks on Twitter and other media objected to Cyrus’s video commentary. Out Magazine's Rose Dommu wrote: "So Cyrus is implying that women are gay because of bad people with dicks, as if it’s a conscious decision they make because ugh, men! That’s...not how sexuality works, Miley!"
Dommu continued: "That might be your experience, but that doesn’t make it universal."
One Twitter user pointedly added: “But being gay isn't a choice, sis?” For the record, that statement is science-backed. A wide-reaching study published this year in the journal Science found that human sexual preferences are determined by a multifaceted mix of various genes, life experiences, and environmental factors.
But being gay isn't a choice, sis? 😒😒😒 so good for you for choosing not to be gay... @MileyCyrus https://t.co/wIYeHRbfi6
— Luke (@lukingforwardto) October 21, 2019
Another Twitter user noted: “Women don’t 'have to be gay' because they 'can’t find a good person with a d*ck.' Don’t use the queer community as a stop-gap because you couldn’t find a boyfriend. People aren’t queer because they “gave up” on men. This is so insulting.”
Miley, this is so not it. Women don’t “have to be gay” because they “can’t find a good person with a d*ck”.
— Rosie Percy (@rosiepercy) October 21, 2019
Don’t use the queer community as a stop-gap because you couldn’t find a boyfriend.
People aren’t queer because they “gave up” on men.
This is so insulting. pic.twitter.com/lAzcEjHRcB
The tone of Cyrus's video was a significant shift from comments she made about sexuality in a February Vanity Fair story, in which she said: "A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person." She added in a later interview with Elle that this remained true for her, despite the fact she'd married a man, saying: “I’m in a hetero relationship, but I still am very sexually attracted to women."
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