Sivan told BuzzFeed he came out to his family first in 2010, and the acceptance and support he received from them encouraged him to share his sexual identity with his millions of followers three years later, at age 18. That video has garnered substantial attention, but Sivan credits the countless vloggers that have come before him for helping him find his voice. "Before I came out I read and watched as much LGBT content as possible," he said. "There are so many people I would love to meet and say thank you for posting their videos, because hearing their stories and everything comforted me." In 2015, he made a follow-up video as part of an "Awkward Conversations with Troye" series aimed at helping young people discuss high-pressure issues such as identity, bullying, and safe sex.
Though Sivan has become a role model to millions of LGBT fans, who were his inspirations? He credits Miley Cyrus. Not grown-up, pansexual, thoroughly modern Miley, but rather, the squeaky clean Hannah Montana-era country-pop star. Sivan told Buzzfeed, "She wrote a song called 'My Heart Beats for Love' and she said in an interview that it was about her gay best friend. I was like, 'Oh my god, Miley Cyrus has a gay best friend. Why am I not that person?' And I was like, 'If everyone in the world rejects me, I can just go become friends with Miley Cyrus.'" As for Cyrus, the feelings of gratitude are mutual. She responded to his shout-out by tweeting, "Thank you for being brave, Mistaaaa."
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