Pansexual

What is a Pansexual?

A pansexual is a person who is sexually and/or romantically attracted to people of all genders, regardless of biological sex and gender orientation.

Pansexuality is different from bisexuality because it doesn’t incorporate any sort of gender bias. While bisexuals are attracted to both men and women, pansexuals experience sexual attraction in a way that’s intrinsically nonbinary.

The term pansexual derives from the Greek prefix pan, which means all. The concept is relatively recent, as it first emerged in the ’90s in the context of small BDSM communities.

Pansexuality Explained

Even though there’s a clear distinction between pansexuality and bisexuality, many people outside of the LGBTQ community still have problems understanding the difference between the two sexual orientations.

To be fair, pansexuality took a long time to go mainstream because non-binary gender roles are relatively new to most people. And in a way, it’s the popularization of these new non-normative genders that makes pansexuality such a relevant concept today.

According to pansexual actor Wayne Brady, pansexuality is different from bisexuality because it allows him to “be attracted across the board,” regardless of the other person identifying as straight, gay, bi, trans, and so forth. In recent years, several other celebrities have identified as pansexual.

The Challenges of Pansexuality

Being attracted by people regardless of gender and orientation sounds like a dream, but pansexuals are still sadly forced to deal with stigma. Like bisexuals, they’re often accused of “not knowing what they want” or being “undecided.”

Needless to say, pansexuals are as sure of their sexual orientation as any straight, gay, or lesbian person out there! Unfortunately, it just happens that they’re often misunderstood and misjudged because pansexuality is a relatively new, unknown, and complex concept.