Kristen Stewart felt “pressure” to properly “represent” the LGBTQ community when she first came out as bisexual.
Kristen Stewart
The ‘Twilight’ alum has said she struggled with “giving herself to the public” during the early years of her fame, and didn’t enjoy dating in the public eye as a bisexual woman, because she felt as though her identity was always being questioned.
Kristen now “understands” her responsibility of helping to represent members of the LGBTQ community, but admitted she used to find it stressful to “represent queerness” as an openly gay celebrity.
She explained: “The first time I ever dated a girl, I was immediately being asked if I was a lesbian. And it’s like, ‘God, I’m 21 years old.’
“I felt like maybe there were things that have hurt people I’ve been with. Not because I felt ashamed of being openly gay but because I didn’t like giving myself to the public, in a way. It felt like such thievery. This was a period of time when I was sort of cagey.
“Even in my previous relationships, which were straight, we did everything we could to not be photographed doing things - things that would become not ours. So I think the added pressure of representing a group of people, of representing queerness, wasn’t something I understood then. Only now can I see it.”
And the ‘Charlie’s Angels’ star also said she’s now keen to “represent what [she] stands for”.
She told InStyle magazine: “The first couple of times I played queer characters, I was not [openly] queer yet. I’m drawn to stories and people for a reason, and I think, by default, I represent what I stand for. I do think it’s important that we step into different roles and into other people’s shoes in order to really expand ourselves, albeit not ever taking up space for people who should be telling their own stories.”
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