Miley Cyrus Says She Left Religion Over Treatment of Gay Friends

Miley Cyrus chatted up Hailey Bieber in the latest episode of the “Wrecking Ball” singer’s Instagram Live show, Bright Minded.

The Biebers are well-known for their connection to Hillsong Church and general obsession with religion, which led to Cyrus admitting that the reason she wound up leaving the church had a lot to do with religious attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.

“I was raised going to church as a believer, and that was a really important part of my life,” she said. “And I kind of fell off that path a little bit because I think I had a hard time finding a relationship with God that worked for me as an adult.”

She continued: “I was also brought up in the church in Tennessee at a time in the ‘90s, so it was a less accepting time with all that. I had some gay friends in school, and the reason I kind of left my church was they weren’t being accepted.

“They were being sent to conversion therapy. And I had a really hard time with that, and I had a hard time with me finding my sexuality, too.”

Cyrus has been open about being pansexual since 2015, and considers it an important part of her identity. Her sentiments about leaving the church over its treatment of and attitude towards LGBTQ people is something many who grew up with a religious background can relate to.

But Bieber’s outlook on religion may have shifted Cyrus’s view moving forward.

“I think what I just took away from you is I’m allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult that doesn’t have to be aligned with the way it was when I was brought up,” Cyrus admitted.