Miley Cyrus has proven herself to be a progressive pop star once again. She's not sitting in her birthday suit on a wrecking ball, opening lighting joints or rocking the craziest stage outfits known to man or woman—this time, she's taken her forward-thinking attitude to a place of activism.

At the 2014 VMA Awards, Cyrus had a homeless friend accept her award and read a moving speech on youth at risk. This week she announced the launch of the Happy Hippie Foundation, a charity dedicated to helping the LGBT community. (Announced with a badass Joan Jett backyard duet, by the by!) Today Miley's taken it a step further in an interview with OUT magazine, explaining exactly how and why she refuses to conform to gender norms.

Straight from Miley:

“I didn’t want to be a boy. I kind of wanted to be nothing. I don’t relate to what people would say defines a girl or a boy, and I think that’s what I had to understand: Being a girl isn’t what I hate, it’s the box that I get put into.”

Read the rest of the interview here, and maybe go on and click through our helpful guide to dressing like the Bangerz star.