What’s the Difference Between Pansexuality and Bisexuality?

Here’s what to know.

Recently, Janelle Monae came out as pansexual, telling Rolling Stone that: “Being a queer black woman in America, someone who has been in relationships with both men and women – I consider myself to be a free-ass motherfucker.” Monae elaborated that she used to identify as bisexual, but “then later I read about pansexuality and was like, ‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am.” Meanwhile, while pansexuality seems to have resonated with Monae, bisexuality is still alive and well. While mainstream media has a history of painting people as either straight or gay, bisexual characters such as Toni Topaz in Riverdale demonstrate that society is finally waking up to other orientations. So, what is the difference (and similarity) between pansexuality and bisexuality?

What is pansexuality?

Pansexuality means an attraction to people regardless of their gender. “Their pattern of attraction does not generally include what someone’s gender is,” says sex therapist Dr. Liz Powell. So, a pansexual person may be attracted to their own gender, as well as other genders. However, someone’s gender is not a requirement or determining factor of whether or not they want to date or sleep with you. Sex therapist Dr. Kelly Wise defines pansexual as, “someone who is attracted to people regardless of gender or biological sex. That is irrelevant. Pansexuality holds space for the idea that gender is very fluid.”

Remember, while sex is typically assigned by doctors at birth depending on genitals, gender is a social construct. People should be able to identify with whatever gender they feel best suits them, be it male, female, non-binary, genderqueer, or genderfluid regardless of what the doctor in the birthing room says. A sexual orientation, such as pansexuality, is different than gender identity, but for pansexuals, gender identity is not what makes them into (or not into) someone. Dr. Powell points out that as it’s a newer term, younger generations, such as Generation Z may be more likely to identify as pansexual over bisexual.

What is bisexuality?

In most ways, bisexuality is the same as pansexuality. “Bisexuality is defined as attraction to people who are of the same gender and people of a gender other than your own. So that can mean any two or more genders,” Dr. Powell says. There is a lot of biphobia, misconceptions about bisexuality, and bi-erasure (an effort to remove the label or general ignoring of bisexuality) both within straight society and the LGBTQ community. One of these misconceptions is that bisexuality reinforces the gender binary, or that bisexual people only date cis people (someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth). “There is a popular misconception that bisexuality means an attraction to two genders. There are occasionally some bi folks who are only into cisgender people, but I think those folks are the exception and not the rule,” Dr. Powell says. Continue reading here…

Pansexuality vs Bisexuality