Miley Cyrus is married to a man, but that doesn’t make her straight. Cyrus, who came out as pansexual in 2015, opened up about her sexuality and her marriage in ELLE’s August 2019 cover story.
First, the singer addressed the idea that her marriage to Liam Hemsworth means her life — or at least the most interesting part of it — is over. “I think it’s very confusing to people that I’m married. But my relationship is unique,” she said. “And I don’t know that I would ever publicly allow people in there because it’s so complex, and modern, and new that I don’t think we’re in a place where people would get it. I mean, do people really think that I’m at home in a f***ing apron cooking dinner?”
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The star continued, “I’m in a hetero relationship, but I still am very sexually attracted to women. People become vegetarian for health reasons, but bacon is still f***ing good, and I know that. I made a partner decision. This is the person I feel has my back the most. I definitely don’t fit into a stereotypical wife role. I don’t even like that word.”
Cyrus’ parents’ marriage inspires her, she says, because “they were always partners. That’s why I like that word. ‘Husband and wife’ sounds like a cigarette commercial from the ’50s to me.”
One of Cyrus' new songs, "Never Be Me," addresses the idea of being unfaithful: the lyrics go, “If you’re looking for faithful, that’ll never be me. If you’re looking for stable, that’ll never be me. If you’re looking for someone that’ll be all that you need, that’s never going to be me.”
When Cyrus' producer Mark Ronson pushed back on the lyrics, she pointed out that he wouldn't have the same objection if a man were singing. "He was like, 'You can’t say that. You have guy fans, and they’re not going to understand what you mean. I don’t even understand what you mean,'" Cyrus said. "And I’m like, 'But you wouldn’t say anything about it if a man came in and played that record.' And then two days later, he hit me up and he’s like, “You’re absolutely right. I totally get your perspective.”
Cyrus previously talked about her sexuality and her marriage in Vanity Fair’s March 2019 cover story. “We’re redefining, to be f---ing frank, what it looks like for someone that’s a queer person like myself to be in a hetero relationship. A big part of my pride and my identity is being a queer person," she said.
"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.”
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