Kristen Stewart confirmed that she first dated another woman at the age of 21. Since she famously only dated guys back then, the actor was often questioned about whether she was a lesbian. As she told The Guardian emphatically, "It's not confusing if you're bisexual. For me, it's the opposite." Admittedly, Stewart worried about upsetting previous partners. As a result, for the Oscar nominee, her coming out journey was marked by struggles.

Understandably, she still wanted to keep her privacy while exploring her sexuality. Per InStyle, Stewart clarified, "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." 

Highlighting the weight of being a famous queer person and the complexities of her own self-discovery, she noted, "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." It took a while for the actor to fully grasp how tough it had been, despite her supportive family, to figure out her identity — something which, she noted, is "that way for everyone."