What is Pansexual?

[GoldenRose]

Tomorrow (24th of May) is Pansexual and Pan romantic Awareness and Visibility Day!

To be honest I didn’t really know what pansexual was until recently. I’d heard of it before but never knew the meaning and when I looked into it more I was a little confused as it is quite similar to bisexuality which I think is a common misconception for people. So I thought it would be a good idea to spread some awareness here on the forum!

From what I’ve gathered bisexual means to be attracted to multiple genders whereas pansexual means to be attracted to all genders. I’ve also heard the term ‘gender-blind’ being associated with pansexual and pansexual people, which means that some pansexual people may not consider gender and sex as a determining factor for a romantic or sexual partner.

Who else was unsure about the meaning of pansexual? Do you think that there should be more awareness about pansexuality?

If anyone has any useful resources like pansexual support groups or personal stories feel free to share 🙂

 

[champagnepapi]

Thanks for this @goldenrose! And happy Pansexual & Panromantic Awareness and Visibility Day to any lurkers out there! We see you and love you.

I personally love this term because it encapsulates all the nuances of the gender spectrum, and feels much more inclusive than bisexuality which operates on a binary. There definitely should be more awareness about pansexuality I reckon!

[Aunt_Flo]

I’ve seen more than handful of people assume pansexual meant polyamorous, so I definitely think more awareness is needed! I think it’s important to share that it’s different to bisexuality, but both are equally valid sexualities that exist on a spectrum.

This has got to be one of my favourite representations of pansexuality – from the TV show Schitt’s Creek. Two characters use wine preferences as an analogy for pansexuality – it’s about the wine, not the label!

[-_-]

Great post @goldenrose I’ve more recently been understanding what Pansexual is because I’ve decided that that that’s my sexual identity / orientation which is kind of cool for me, YAY!!

So for me my sexual / romantic attraction isn’t based on men or women attraction. I had previously been a closeted bi-sexual/closeted confused til recently. I am sexually and romantically attracted to lots of different people – they can be female or male or non-binary or transgender.

I am in a ‘straight’ relationship as in I am female and he is male so I guess I still struggle with not being pansexual or queer enough because most of my relationships have also been predominately male. I guess that is part preference (or part programming) and having a preference is totally valid in the same way that you can be gay or bi and have a preference to the type of person you are attracted to. I also am struggling with that I don’t have to justify my pansexuality to everyone by proving I am queer enough or in a relationship with someone queer. Does that make sense? Interesting thought though and wonder if anyone else has struggled with this (Edit yes – I found this thread about being confident in your sexuality)

So for me someone’s gender doesn’t weigh into if I am attracted to them sexually or romantically. Basically it means I have SO many crushes because I find so many people attractive!

[GoldenRose]

Oh that is such a good analogy @aunt_flo!

Thanks so much for sharing @stephaniaaaah I completely understand where you are coming from and can definitely relate (I’ll jump on the other post and elaborate from my previous reply in that thread :))

I’m sure it would have been hard to come to that realisation as I feel like there is a lot of stigma/pressure from society that you can’t identify as pansexual or bisexual if you have predominately only had romantic or sexual partners from one specific gender. I think we all need to remind ourselves that we don’t need to ‘prove’ our sexuality!

[-_-]

Agree @goldenrose :))

[-_-]

Agree @goldenrose :))

[champagnepapi]

@stephaniaaah Ahhh I got the warm fuzzies reading this thread! I’m so happy for you and the fact that you feel more empowered in your sexuality! You have my support always. x

[EarthMama]

I too have often wondered whether the best fit for my sexuality is the label of Pansexual. I relate to so much of what you have said @stephaniaaaah about not feeling queer enough if you are in a ‘straight’ relationship and worrying about how it is judged to even have a preference for a particular gender. I seem to have a gender preference in my dating history, but I wonder about how much of that is circumstance and my own internalised judgement.

I have heard some discussion around pansexuality being a more accurate term, as some feel that bisexuality does not adequately acknowledge the full spectrum of gender and sexual identity. I also know many queer people who feel that the label bisexuality perfectly describes their identity. Sometimes I wonder if the more categories we come up with, the less space we are leaving between them to have an identity that needs no label other than our name. After all, there are as many identities as there are humans on earth.

Conclusively- I’m still not sure 😛

[EarthMama]

I too have often wondered whether the best fit for my sexuality is the label of Pansexual. I relate to so much of what you have said @stephaniaaaah about not feeling queer enough if you are in a ‘straight’ relationship and worrying about how it is judged to even have a preference for a particular gender. I seem to have a gender preference in my dating history, but I wonder about how much of that is circumstance and my own internalised judgement.

I have heard some discussion around pansexuality being a more accurate term, as some feel that bisexuality does not adequately acknowledge the full spectrum of gender and sexual identity. I also know many queer people who feel that the label bisexuality perfectly describes their identity. Sometimes I wonder if the more categories we come up with, the less space we are leaving between them to have an identity that needs no label other than our name. After all, there are as many identities as there are humans on earth.

Conclusively- I’m still not sure 😛

[alexjameson]

I totally know how you feel! I thought I was bisexual at first but didn’t want to just limit my preferences to a binary, so I found that pansexuality fits me better. This definition really helped me clarify things, it might help you too!

[tea]

Totally interesting how language can change things @alexjameson I’m very much the same in my preferences, but I still use bisexual because I feel like it needs the representation? I think people view bisexual as someone liking x the same as y when it’s not always 50/50. Idk, it’s difficult to put labels on.

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