Singer Mariah Carey is amused by longstanding rumours that she is a bisexual and rubbishes the speculation saying it's not "reality".

"If it makes somebody happy to say that, then whatever, but that's not the reality. I don't have a discriminatory policy of who I'm friends with, so yes, I'm friends with women who are gay - gay, straight, it doesn't matter to me. So I don't get upset when I hear that, because it is what it is. I guess I could lie about it to seem more exciting," contactmusic.com quoted her as saying.

The singer insists she supports gay rights and backs the campaign for same-sex marriage to be made legal.

"If two people want to get married, it's their prerogative - we hope. Everybody should be able to do what they want to do and be in the pursuit of happiness. Ever since I was a little girl, my mother was very open-minded and had many different types of friends, so being gay never seemed wrong or strange to me."