Miley Cyrus has a new boyfriend, and while doing a livestream with him on her Instagram feed Sunday, she had this to say to her female fans, per E!: "Guys, I was being a little too, like ... hardcore feminist vibes and, just like, I don't know, not allowing anyone in, but now I am. There are good men out there, guys, don't give up. You don't have to be gay, there are good people with [penises] out there, you just gotta find them." The 26-year-old continued, per USA Today: "I always thought I had to be gay 'cause I just thought, like, all guys were evil, but it's not true. There are good people out there that just happen to have [penises]. I've only ever met one ... and he's on this Live." Not surprisingly, the comments aren't going over well, and Cyrus ended up clarifying her stance on Monday.
BuzzFeed rounds up some of the critical reactions, including this one: "Miley, this is so not it. Women don't 'have to be gay' because they 'can't find a good person with a [penis]'. 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." Others expressed surprise or wondered if she was joking, considering she came out as pansexual in 2015, defined both her gender and her sexuality as fluid that same year, and once founded an organization to help LGBTQ+ youth. Earlier this year, she even told Vanity Fair and Elle that though she was married to Liam Hemsworth at the time, she still identified as queer. "[L]et me be clear, YOU don't CHOOSE your sexuality," Cyrus tweeted Monday. "You are born as you are. It has always been my priority to protect the LGBTQ community I am a part of." (More Miley Cyrus stories.)