- The singer Miley Cyrus was criticized for saying people “don’t have to be gay,” seemingly implying that sexuality is a choice.
- Cyrus made the controversial statement during an Instagram Live video with her new boyfriend, Cody Simpson.
- “There are good men out there, guys, don’t give up,” Cyrus told viewers. “You don’t have to be gay. There are good people with dicks out there.”
- “I always thought I had to be gay because I just thought, like, all guys were evil, but that’s not true,” she said. “There are good people out there that just happen to have dicks.”
- People took issue with Cyrus’ implication that being gay was a choice and that only cis men have penises.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
The “Wrecking Ball” singer Miley Cyrus was called out after she told her Instagram followers that they “don’t have to be gay.”
Cyrus was taking part in an Instagram Live video with her new boyfriend, Cody Simpson.
Read more: Cody Simpson showers Miley Cyrus with compliments and gushes about their romance in his new song
“There are good men out there, guys, don’t give up. 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,” the singer said, seemingly alluding to her recent split with Liam Hemsworth.
"I always thought I had to be gay because I just thought, like, all guys were evil, but that's not true," she said. "There are good people out there that just happen to have dicks."
People quickly took issue with Cyrus' implication that being gay is a choice.
“Don’t give up, you don’t have to be gay, there are good dicks out there, you just have to find them”
“I always thought I had to be gay because all guys are evil but that’s not true”
- @MileyCyrus what's good? pic.twitter.com/y3yjUGpCSN
— • (@bljcmie) October 21, 2019
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”.
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— Rosie Percy (@rosiepercy) October 21, 2019
Is @MileyCyrus actually stupid?
Cause this is a stupid message, from a stupid person, to idiots who think they "have to" become gay because a gender disappoints them. That's a stupid narrative encouraging the illusion that it's a choice and a flimsy button. Are you mad? https://t.co/FID5CAAJHw— KodySage (@KodySage) October 21, 2019
miley cyrus really just said “women don’t have to be gay because there are still good men out there” like thank u for curing my lesbianism, miley cyrus
— 🎃𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚗🎃 (@haderbean) October 21, 2019
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 dick to make her straight, that'd be GREAT
— 🧛♀️Kween Death🧛♀️ (@KweenDeath) October 21, 2019
Backlash warranted. Women aren't gay because all guys are dicks. They're gay because they quite simply like women.
It's dangerous to state otherwise, as it implies being gay is somehow a choice. Do better, @MileyCyrus https://t.co/2dxZ0IUcbd
— Hannah (@hmarie12) October 21, 2019
Others accused her of being a transmisogynist, since she seemed to imply that only cis men have penises.
Damn. In 30 seconds @MileyCyrus managed to burn up all goodwill she'd ever built with queer and trans people.
Not all "guys" have dicks, Miley. Thought you knew better.
You "had to be gay" because men are bad? Do you not realize what an anti-lesbian trope that is?
Gross.
— James Bradford's Undead Corpse (@jamesebradford) October 21, 2019
So Miley Cyrus said: “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."
So here we've got lesbophobia AND transmisogyny!
Stop making excuses for her obvious bigotry.
— Valkyrie Thunderbitch (@ValkyrieLadyK) October 21, 2019
And some even called Cyrus a "queer baiter."
miley cyrus claiming shes pansexual (which means there are no gender preferences) yet dying sexuality is a choice and how you just need to find good dick. then justifying this by saying she’s pansexual. sounds like queer baiting
— abi (@whyinhiding) October 21, 2019
waking up to new news miley cyrus is a queer baiter is 😡
— gay goose fan account (@lucywalkingshaw) October 21, 2019
Cyrus has spoken about her sexuality in the past, telling Elle magazine in July that she's attracted to men and women but considered her relationship with Hemsworth a "hetero" marriage.
"I'm in a hetero relationship, but I still am very sexually attracted to women," she said.
In 2015, Cyrus said she identified as pansexual.
During a 2016 interview with Variety, she said that her "eyes started opening in the fifth or sixth grade" but that she wasn't sure what to call herself.
"My whole life, I didn't understand my own gender and my own sexuality. I always hated the word 'bisexual,' because that's even putting me in a box," she said. "I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl."
But she said she began to identify as pansexual as soon as she "figured out what it was."
"Once I understood my gender more, which was unassigned, then I understood my sexuality more," she told Variety. "I was like, 'Oh - that's why I don't feel straight and I don't feel gay. It's because I'm not.'"
Representatives for Cyrus didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment, but the singer posted a statement to Twitter on Monday afternoon.
"I was talking shit about sucky guys, but let me clear, YOU don't CHOOSE your sexuality," Cyrus wrote, adding, "It has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of."
— Miley Ray Cyrus (@MileyCyrus) October 21, 2019
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