Miley Cyrus speaks out about what it's like being a queer person in a 'hetero relationship'

Miley Cyrus left fans gobsmacked when she got hitched to Liam Hemsworth in a secret ceremony the weekend before Christmas.

But no matter how old-fashioned you might think the whole white dress, exchange of rings thing was, the singer is here to tell you that it wasn't traditional in any kind of way.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 26-year-old recently claimed she was "redefining what it looks like for someone that's a queer person to be in a hetero relationship".

Credit: Getty

Revealing that she didn't actually feel like she needed to get married, she said: "We’ve worn rings forever, and I definitely didn’t need it in any way. It actually is kind of out of character for me. The reason that people get married sometimes can be old-fashioned, but I think the reason we got married isn’t old-fashioned—I actually think it’s kind of New Age."

She continued to say that gender is irrelevant when it comes to sexuality, stating: "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. 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 ... gender is a very small, almost irrelevant part of relationships. I wore a dress on my wedding day because I felt like it, I straightened my hair because I felt like it. But that doesn’t make me become some instantly 'polite hetero lady.'"

Miley first came out as pansexual back in 2015, after she was linked with model Stella Maxwell. A year later, she revealed that when she was younger, she was always confused about her gender and sexuality, and her first relationship was with a woman.

"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 told Variety. "I don't ever think about someone being a boy or someone being a girl. Also, my nipple pasties and sh*t never felt sexualized to me. My eyes started opening in the fifth or sixth grade. My first relationship in my life was with a chick. I grew up in a very religious Southern family."

She explained that she eventually found her identity by spending time with fellow LGBTQ people, stating: "The universe has always given me the power to know I'll be OK. Even at that time, when my parents didn't understand, I just felt that one day they are going to understand.

"I went to the LGBTQ centre here in L.A., and I started hearing these stories. I saw one human in particular who didn't identify as male or female. Looking at them, they were both: beautiful and sexy and tough but vulnerable and feminine but masculine. And I related to that person more than I related to anyone in my life.

"Even though I may seem very different, people may not see me as neutral as I feel. But I feel very neutral. I think that was the first gender-neutral person I'd ever met. 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.'"

After struggling to find her voice for so long, Miley admitted she felt stronger now she had a "purpose", saying: "My empowerment comes from feeling like I have a purpose now. On my tombstone, I didn't want the 'Wrecking Ball' lyrics. I wanted it to be something greater. I'm the only f*cking Disney star who would say I'm pro-lesbian and gay, before it was OK to say that."

Hear, hear, Miley!