Miley Cyrus has proved she’s a big fan of Instagram Live while self-isolating, and opened up to Hailey Baldwin during a March 20 conversation about religion, and why she decided to leave her church. The pair discussed everything from makeup tips to the role religion plays in their lives, on the episode of Bright Minded: Live with Miley. “I had a hard time finding a relationship with God that worked for me as an adult,” Miley explained. “I think … I’m allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult that doesn’t have to be aligned with the way that it was when I was brought up.” The singer added that she stopped attending her church because of the way her gay friends were treated. “I had some gay friends in school. That is the reason why I left my church is that they weren’t being accepted,” she said, adding, “They were being sent to conversion therapies. I had a hard time with me finding my sexuality too.”
In October 2016, Miley came out as pansexual. “My whole life, I didn’t understand my own gender and sexuality,” Miley said at the time in an interview with our sister site Variety. It’s clear Miley’s own journey to understanding her sexuality played a role in her relationship with God, and the church. “So I think now you telling me that I’m allowed to redesign my relationship with God as an adult and make it how it feels most accepting to me would make me feel so less turned off by spirituality,” the former Hannah Montana star said to her supermodel pal.
Hailey, who regularly attends church services with her husband Justin Bieber, also weighed in on her relationship with religion. “I think there’s a difference between being raised in church and being an adult and having your own relationship with God and Jesus and spirituality because what my relationship was with faith getting raised that way is completely different than me in my own journey as an adult,” Hailey explained. “I found a church community that works for me, where I feel supported and loved and accepted.” The supermodel also told Miley she believes Jesus loves people “no matter where they are in life” but still grappled with the knowledge that some people are made to feel excluded. She said, “I’ve always had a hard time with church making people feel excluded and not accepted and they can’t be a part of it because of what they believe in and who they love.”
Miley Cyrus opened up to Hailey Bieber on why she left church:
“I had some gay friends in school. That is the reason why I left my church is that they weren’t being accepted. They were being sent to conversion therapies…I had a hard time with me finding my sexuality too.” pic.twitter.com/yRuN8IQ2Oj
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 22, 2020
Miley has been super vocal about her decision to isolate herself during the international coronavirus outbreak. She’s posted several memes and videos to reveal her decision to support social distancing, and even shared a pic to prove that she’s doing it herself. In the image, which was shared on her Instagram story, Miley was surrounded by her dogs, and she captioned it, “Social distancing with a few exceptions.”