Miley Cyrus is on a mission to change the way we think about gender and sexuality.
The pop star launched a two-week Instagram campaign called InstaPride on Monday, and she's using it to share stories of transgender and "gender expansive" people across the country.
In a recent interview with Paper Magazine, Cyrus spoke candidly about her own identity and sexuality, saying that she doesn't relate to "being boy or girl" and that she's had relationships with women.
I’m launching #InstaPride today, in partnership with @Instagram, to share stories of transgender and gender expansive people from around the country. Over the next 2 weeks, you’ll meet them and the people in their lives who support them, as we highlight their stories of resilience #happyhippiepresents @happyhippiefdn A photo posted by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jun 15, 2015 at 6:02am PDT
Cyrus' Happy Hippie Foundation, which works with LGBT youth, says the campaign will celebrate "love, support, and resilience with portraits of transgender and gender expansive individuals from all walks of life."
The hashtag launched with images of Leo Sheng, a 19-year-old film student from Michigan who identifies as a transgender man.
Sheng has documented his transition on Instagram for the last year-and-a-half, and said that he was recently invited by Cyrus to participate in the InstaPride portrait series. The photo shoot, Sheng said, featured stories of transgender and gender-fluid Instagram users from across the country.
"I can’t remember the last time I’ve been in a room with so much love, pride, and respect for everyone’s journey," Sheng said. "It was such a privilege to be included and I’m so humbled to be a part of something so special and beautiful. I hope that I can inspire those who have the ability to share their own stories to find their own voices."
This is Leo (@isupersheng), a 19-year-old college student from Michigan. He shares about his own identity, experiences and hopes saying: “I have a lot of different identities. I’m a writer, a filmmaker in the works, a sometimes photographer, a good public-speaker, a social media junkie, a Gleek, a feminist, an activist a movie buff, a dutiful Netflix fan. The list goes on and on. As for my gender, I identify as a trans man.” #happyhippiepresents #instapride @happyhippiefdn A photo posted by Miley Cyrus (@mileycyrus) on Jun 15, 2015 at 6:01am PDT