Miley Cyrus is letting it all hang out—literally and figuratively.
The 22-year-old not only strips down for her photo shoot inside of Paper magazine, wearing pretty much nothing but war paint, but she's also not censoring herself when it comes to the issues she's most passionate about: social and sexual equality.
Having recently launched the Happy Hippie Foundation, which is designed to raise funds and awareness for homeless and LGBT youth, Cyrus explains to the magazine that she felt compelled to do something after the news of Leelah Alcorn's death went viral.
"We can't keep noticing these kids too late," she says.
She shed even more light on the growing issue when she encouraged 22-year-old Jesse Helt, one of California's many homeless youth, to accept her VMA for "Wrecking Ball" last summer. "I felt like I was witnessing a modern-day 'I Have a Dream,' and it had nothing to do with me," she tells Paper.
A social issue that she keeps close to her heart, Cyrus adds that she often feels guilty for how her life has turned out, which is why she's so dedicated to helping others.
"I can't drive by in my f--king Porsche and not f--king do something," she says. "I see it all day: people in their Bentleys and their Rolls and their Ubers, driving past these vets who have fought for our country, or these young women who have been raped."
"I was doing a show two nights ago, and I was wearing butterfly nipple pasties and butterfly wings. I'm standing there with my tits out, dressed like a butterfly. How the f--k is that fair? How am I so lucky?"
Standing with her "tits out" is nothing unfamiliar for Cyrus—or her fans. She's very naked inside these pages, but this isn't a new movement for her. She tells the mag she used to wake up when she was little and ride a dirt bike in her birthday suit. Her free spirit has often led her to question her own sexuality, which doesn't have any boundaries.
"I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult—anyone over the age of 18 who is down to love me," she says. "I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl."
She even remembers the moment she approached her mom, Tish Cyrus, to tell her she sees women like she sees men.
"I remember telling her I admire women in a different way. And she asked me what that meant. And I said, I love them. I love them like I love boys," she says. "And it was so hard for her to understand. She didn't want me to be judged and she didn't want me to go to hell. But she believes in me more than she believes in any god. I just asked for her to accept me. And she has."
For someone who has really done it all, it's easy to believe that the "We Can't Stop" singer wouldn't be judgmental.
"As long as you're not hurting anyone," she says, "your choices are your choices."