Miley Cyrus Opened Up About Being A Queer Person Married To A Man & What That Means To Her

Even though Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth have been together for a decade, they've only been married for the better part of the past two months, and there's been a newlywed glow about them as she's slowly shared photos and details of their big day with fans. And now, in her cover story with Vanity Fair, Cyrus is opening up about being queer in an opposite sex marriage and what that means not only for her relationship with Hemsworth, but for her definition of marriage in general.

One of the earliest times Cyrus opened up about her sexuality was while talking to the Associated Press in 2015, when she launched her Happy Hippie Foundation. According to the organization's website, "Our mission is to rally young people to fight injustice facing homeless youth, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable populations." Cyrus told the Associated Press that her past relationships hadn't all been "straight." That same year, Cyrus also spoke about her sexuality in an interview with Elle UK, saying, "I’m very open about it — I’m pansexual." And on her 2017 album, Younger Now, Cyrus released a song called "She's Not Him," about dating a woman while still fighting off feelings for a male ex.

And now, in her Vanity Fair interview, the singer is speaking openly about what being queer has meant in her marriage to Hemsworth so far. While she said that actually being married to someone she's been with so long has felt "zero-percent different," when the topic of marriage being "old-fashioned" was brought up, she definitely had some strong opinions to share about why her sexuality made that statement false.

Cyrus told VF:

“The reason that people get married sometimes can be old-fashioned, but I think the reason we got married isn’t old-fashioned — I actually think it’s kind of New Age. We’re redefining, to be f*cking frank, what it looks like for someone that’s a queer person like myself to be in a hetero [sic] relationship. A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person. What I preach is: People fall in love with people, not gender, not looks, not whatever. What I’m in love with exists on almost a spiritual level. It has nothing to do with sexuality. Relationships and partnerships in a new generation — I don’t think they have so much to do with sexuality or gender. Sex is actually a small part, and gender is a very small, almost irrelevant part of relationships.”

As the singer said, no matter who she's with, her identity doesn't change. Her approach to love and marriage, as well as the way she feels like relationships have evolved, sounds pretty cool. Who someone is inside is such a big part of why people fall in love with each other, and sometimes, that has nothing to do with sexuality or gender, which seems to be the case for Cyrus.

Cyrus also shared why she felt like she and Hemsworth got married — because she felt like they were stronger as a unit than apart. She said:

"A lot of people use marriage I think maybe for a cure. But like my favorite woman in the world, Hillary Clinton, says: We’re stronger together. That’ll make me get emotional. That’s what she meant by it. Like, who gives a f*ck if he’s a guy, if I’m a girl, or if he was a woman — who gives a f*ck? We really are stronger together. One is the loneliest number.”

So far, it truly does seem like Hemsworth and Cyrus are stronger together — and they're only at the beginning of their journey as a married couple. Where will they go from here? It's hard to say, but it doesn't sound like there will be anything "old-fashioned" about it.

Editor's Note: The headline for this piece was updated on Feb. 21.