Pop singer Miley Cyrus has said if her
dad Billy Ray Cyrus can support gay marriage, so can any man.
In an op-ed titled Why Miley Got Her
Gay-Marriage Tattoo published in fashion glossy Glamour,
Cyrus, 19, discusses her reasons behind getting a small equal sign
tattoo inked on her middle finger in support of marriage equality
last summer.
“I believe every American should be
allowed the same rights and civil liberties,” Cyrus wrote.
“Without legalized same-sex marriage, most of the time you cannot
share the same health benefits, you are not considered next of kin
and you are not granted the same securities as a heterosexual couple.
How is this different than having someone sit in the back of the bus
because of their skin color?”
She added that she no longer shops at
Urban Outfitters due to the company's donation to GOP presidential
hopeful Rick Santorum, a strong opponent of gay marriage.
(Related: Miley
Cyrus hitting Rick Santorum over gay marriage named a top celebrity
politics moment.)
“We all should be tolerant of one
another and embrace our differences,” she added. “My dad
[country singer Billy Ray Cyrus], who is a real man's man, lives on
the farm and is as Southern and straight as they come. He loves my
gay friends and even supports same-sex marriage. If my father can do
it, anyone can.”
(Related: Miley
Cyrus joins gay marriage group NOH8 Campaign.)