Miley Cyrus: 'It Is Our Responsibility' to Help Others

Miley Cyrus gave a call to arms for advocacy at the Los Angeles LGBT Center's Vanguard Awards.

The "Wrecking Ball" singer was honored earlier this month for her work with The Happy Hippie Foundation, a group she founded to help the homeless and LGBT youth.

But Cyrus wasn't very happy with the state of selflessness in the world. In her speech, she bemoaned how caring for others "is just way too rare in the world that we live in today." She also quoted fellow Vanguard Award nominee Jane Fonda, "To be a revolutionary, you have to be a human being. You have to care about people who have no power."

"We have been given this megaphone. And it is our responsibility as human beings to do everything we can to protect our fellow people, environment, and we cannot forget about the animals," Cyrus said.

Cyrus, 23, spoke passionately about how issues like the rise of HIV and homelessness among youth are linked, and underscored how dire the plight is within the LGBT community.

"There are more than 1.6 million runaway or homeless young people in the U.S. each year with 40 percent of homeless youth identifying as LGBTQ," said the singer, who came out as pansexual earlier this year.

Cyrus founded The Happy Hippie Foundation in 2014, shortly after letting a homeless youth, Jesse, give an acceptance speech in her place at MTV's Video Music Awards. She often uses her social media influence to advocate for LGBT issues, most notably to decry Indiana's so-called Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Earlier in the evening, she licked a grand piano at the behest of singer Linda Perry. It sold at auction for $50,000 to support the work of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which provides health and housing services for youth and seniors.

In addition to Cyrus and Fonda, Philadelphia and Freeheld screenwriter Ron Nyswaner was also honored, and he revealed one of his recent projects was 'de-gayed' by producers who were fearful its lesbian characters were too queer.

Cyrus concluded her own speech with a quotation from another female actress and role model, Audrey Hepburn:

"As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others."

Watch her remarks below.