In the words of Miley Cyrus: "We can kiss who we want / We can screw who we want."
At 29 years old, the Grammy-nominated singer has already proved she's one of the world's most powerful LGBTQ+ activists, using her platform and lyrics to advocate for equality and acceptance. We can't stop obsessing over her journey from Hannah Montana star to the out and proud pansexual icon she is today.
To celebrate Pride Month in June, Miley performed hit songs from Cher, Madonna, The Pretenders, George Michael, ABBA and more during Peacock's Miley Cyrus Presents Stand by You. As Miley teased on Twitter, "I've got a lot of guests. A lot of #Pride. AND A LOT OF WARDROBE CHANGES." Obviously, it's going to be a massive party in the U.S.A."
As fans are well aware, this isn't her first celebration of the queer community. She came out as pansexual five years ago and has been pushing for equality for years.
After embracing her free-spirited self during her Bangerz era, she founded the Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014. The nonprofit encourages young people to fight injustices that are currently facing homeless youth, LGBTQ+ youth and other "vulnerable populations." She has also donated $500,000 to The Foundation for AIDS Research.
In 2016, "The Climb" artist spoke with Variety about how she learned more about her own identity and how she's living her truth today.
"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. I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl," the star told the outlet. "Once I understood my gender more, which was unassigned, then I understood my sexuality more. I was like, 'Oh—that's why I don't feel straight and I don't feel gay. It's because I'm not.'"
In honor of her birthday Nov. 23, E! News takes a look back at some of the actress' biggest impacts on the LGBTQ+ community. Click on the video above to see more of Miley's moments.
(E! and Peacock are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
This story was originally published on Friday, June 25, 2021 at 3:36 p.m. PT.