Kristen Stewart explains how being 'hounded about labeling' her sexuality affected her when she was younger: 'It felt like such thievery'

• Kristen Stewart opens up about her sexuality to her "Happiest Season" director Clea DuVall for InStyle.
• The actress said that when she was younger it felt like "thievery" when people asked if she was gay.
• Now Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, says she's more comfortable being a spokesperson for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Kristen Stewart admits there was a time when she didn't want to talk about her sexuality, but it wasn't because she was embarrassed about it — she just felt it wasn't anyone's business.

"The first time I ever dated a girl, I was immediately being asked if I was a lesbian," she said during a conversation for InStyle's November issue with her "Happiest Season" director, "Veep" star Clea DuVall. "And it's like, 'God, I'm 21 years old.'"

In "Happiest Season," Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, and Mackenzie Davis play a gay couple, who come at odds when it's revealed one of them hasn't come out to their parents. It hits theaters November 25.

Stewart told DuVall it was her own coming out experience that drew her to the project.

"I felt like maybe there were things that have hurt people I've been with," Stewart continued. "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."

Stewart has always been private about the relationships she's been in — from Robert Pattinson to singer Soko. And she told DuVall that was the challenge when she was younger in regards to the pressure of speaking out for the LGBTQIA+ community.

"Only now can I see it," she said. "Retrospectively, I can tell you I have experience with this story. But back then I would have been like, 'No, I'm fine. My parents are fine with it. Everything's fine.' That's bull----. It's been hard. It's been weird. It's that way for everyone."

Stewart admitted to feeling an expectation to be a spokesperson for the gay community, when asked.

"I did more when I was younger, when I was being hounded about labeling myself," Stewart answered. "I had no reticence about displaying who I was. I was going out every day knowing I'd be photographed while I was being affectionate with my girlfriend, but I didn't want to talk about it."

"I did feel an enormous pressure, but it wasn't put on me by the [LGBTQIA+] community. People were seeing those pictures and reading these articles and going, 'Oh, well, I need to be shown.' I was a kid, and I felt personally affronted. Now I relish it. I love the idea that anything I do with ease rubs off on somebody who is struggling. That s---'s dope! When I see a little kid clearly feeling themselves in a way that they wouldn't have when I grew up, it makes me skip."