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" In an interview with Variety, Kristen Stewart said she refuses to define her sexuality.\u00A0&amp;quot;I had to have some answer about who I was,&amp;quot; the actress, 26, told the magazine. &amp;quot;I felt this weird responsibility, because I didn&amp;#039;t want to seem fearful. But nothing seemed appropriate. So I was like, &amp;#039;F--k, how do I define that?&amp;#039; I&amp;#039;m not going to.&amp;quot; Writer Charlotte Dingle discusses whether it&amp;#039;s a help or\u00A0hindrance to the LGBT movement.\u00A0 I&amp;#039;ve worked as an editor for LGBT media outlets, and contributed as a writer on LGBT issues for both mainstream and alternative outlets, on and off (but mostly on) for most of my professional life. I&amp;#039;ve heard a lot of differing arguments as to how labels attached to sexuality affect us. As someone who largely defines as &amp;quot;bisexual&amp;quot; but also adopts the labels of &amp;quot;queer&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;fluid&amp;quot; alongside that, the idea of labelling my sexuality has been a very important consideration in my life.\u00A0 I have a genderfluid partner (which is someone who does not identify as either male or female) so I&amp;#039;ve also had to defend myself against the fact that I have rejected the increasingly popular &amp;quot;pansexual&amp;quot; label in favour of sticking to &amp;quot;bisexual&amp;quot;. But this is clearly not because they or I do not feel attracted to people who are not cis-male or cis-female, especially given that one of us is neither. &amp;quot;Bisexual&amp;quot; is a label which my genderqueer partner and I both embrace!\u00A0    I have had to explain to many, many people (probably about one a week, alas \u2013 I think I go on the internet too much) that &amp;quot;bisexual&amp;quot; is a much more open\u00A0term than people might assume.\u00A0It does not by definition suggest an adherence to a gender binary, in either personal identity or choice of partner. It is, to my mind, an appreciation of the rainbow of manifestations of both &amp;quot;traditional&amp;quot; genders and the ways in which we can be attracted to one another across that rainbow: despite many opponents of it suggesting that &amp;quot;bi&amp;quot; means a binary.\u00A0 That said it, it is also a legitimate term for those who are rather more binary in their attractions. Labels have their limits. We cannot seek to define everyone. We cannot extend LGBTIQI+ forever. Or can we?\u00A0 But\u2026 I respect Kristen&amp;#039;s decision to refuse to define or label her sexuality. It&amp;#039;s a gorgeous, open, brave move. I love the idea of it and I know I am not alone in that. If nobody had to go through the agonies of coming out, that would be lovely.\u00A0    I particularly wish I could have used such an argument as a strong defence for myself as a teen but I couldn&amp;#039;t. I was punched, had my head flushed down the loo and had no real friends for three years at school because they found out I liked girls. My first love was segregated from me at school because we happened to be of the same gender.\u00A0 In defining our sexuality we continue fighting the fight for equality and not fading into the shadows. It may not be time yet to reject labels. All political movements progress in stages. So I think, all things considered, we need to keep labelling somehow. To put something on the posters, something on the banners, until we have a society that finally gets it.\u00A0 In the meantime, have one label, two labels, three: it doesn&amp;#039;t matter. Just assert yourself as someone who isn&amp;#039;t heterosexual or an ally of those who aren&amp;#039;t and keep up the good fight. On a recent poll for the website I edit, it turned out a lot of my readers don&amp;#039;t identify with just one label, despite reading a website for &amp;quot;bisexual women&amp;quot;.\u00A0 Food for thought.\u00A0 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/reports/a43219/kristen-stewart-variety-sexuality-interview/>