Miley Cyrus: 'I didn't understand my gender or sexuality at first'

Miley Cyrus struggled with her gender and sexual identity as a child until she realized she was pansexual.

The Wrecking Ball hitmaker, who is back in the arms of former fiance Liam Hemsworth after reuniting with him earlier this year (16), 'came out' about her sexuality to her mother when she was 14-years-old after realizing she wasn't like her mom or other women in her family.

"My mom is like an 1980s rock chick - big blonde hair, big boobs," she tells Variety.com. "She loves being a girl. I never felt that way.

"I know some girls that love getting their nails done. I f**king hated it. My nails look like s**t. I don't wax my eyebrows. I never related to loving being a girl. And then, being a boy didn't sound fun to me. I think the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) alphabet could continue forever. But there's a 'P' that should happen - for pansexual."

Pansexual refers to a person who is attracted to another person regardless of their sexuality or gender, and Miley explains after she found out what the term meant, she understood her own sexuality and gender better.

"I went to the LGBTQ center in Los Angeles and I started hearing these stories," she continues. "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.

"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'."

Miley reveals her first meaningful relationship was with a girl, adding, "My eyes started opening in the fifth or sixth grade. My first relationship in my life was with a chick."

And throughout her years of sexual discovery, confident Miley, who briefly dated model Stella Maxwell last year (15), always knew she'd be OK even though she grew up in a very religious Southern family.

"Even at that time, when my parents didn't understand, I just felt that one day they are going to understand," she smiles.