Miley Cyrus faces backlash for saying you 'don’t have to be gay' as there are 'good men out there'
The singer's comments have aroused anger from some sections of the LGBT community
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Your support makes all the difference.Miley Cyrus’ recent declaration that you “don’t have to be gay” because there are “good men out there” has caused something of a storm on social media.
The Wrecking Ball singer made the controversial comments on Instagram live on Sunday evening, accompanied by her new partner, Cody Simpson.
In the footage, the 26-year-old can be seen saying: “There are good men out there, guys, don’t give up. You don’t have to be gay, there are good people with d**ks out there, you’ve just got to find them. You’ve got to find a d**k that’s not a d**k, 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 d**ks. I’ve only ever met one, and he’s on this live.”
Of the many prejudices lesbians, bisexual and queer-identifying women face, being told that they just haven’t met “the right guy” is a common one.
“hey uhhhhh @MileyCyrus nice take you got on being gay there but if you could go ahead and NOT perpetrate the idea that all a lesbian needs is a good d**k to make her straight, that’d be GREAT” wrote one Twitter user.
“Miley Cyrus really said that girls don’t have to be gay because there are plenty of ‘d**ks who aren’t d**ks’ out there. Oh my god”, said another.
“Miley, this is so not it. Women don’t “have to be gay” because they “can’t find a good person with a d**k”. 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 just said ‘you don’t have to be gay, there are good d**ks out there’ HELP”, wrote another.
Cyrus’ comments confused some fans, because of her previous comments about her own pansexuality.
In July, whilst in a relationship with Liam Hemsworth, Cyrus told Elle she was still “very sexually attracted to women.
“People become vegetarian for health reasons, but bacon is still f****** good,” she said.
Others cited her commitment to LGBT youth and how her comments were a personal dig at herself:
“Yeah, she should’ve choose words more deeply. But don’t hate her bcz of this, she has been putting a lot of energy and money for LGBTQ+, and has her own whole foundation to help homeless LGBTQ+, and openly talked about her sexuality.”
One fan insisted she was just joking: “she was just kidding and you know this! please stop with this unsupportable complaining”.
Another praised her freedom to speak her mind: “I love how Miley Cyrus is just so unapologetically herself”.
“Can you not? She was poking fun at how people joke about her sexuality. Just because she’s with a man doesn’t change her sexuality which she has clearly said before. She’s pan and very pro lgbt.”
In 2014, Cyrus founded the Happy Hippie Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that works to support youth homelessness and the LGBT communities.
Cyrus has not yet responded to the criticism and is believed to be recovering from tonsillitis.
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