From what I've gathered, it basically means you're explicitly sexually attracted to traits that people have, regardless of gender. So for example, said traits wouldn't be having a dick or boobs, because those are very sex-specific. This differs from bisexual, where you can love basically any one or multiple genders, regardless of gender, and while traits can be included in that, a good deal of it has to specifically do with being attracted to sex-specific traits. I REALLY hope I'm correct on this. I know there are pansexuals here, so please let me know and if I'm wrong, don't hesitate to say so.
I never understood how pansexual became a thing, it's called bisexuality. It's like calling people who only like blondes blondesexual or something.
^ Some people consider that bisexuals are only attracted to women or men, but pansexuals can be attracted to people that don't fit in the cis genders. My attraction isn't limited to women or men, but i feel more confortable calling myself bi.
As usual, there are no fixed definitions. Technically bi would imply only two genders, leaving out genderless etc. There are many bisexual people who say they are attracted to all kinds of people. And for many people its more common to understand. Pan is for some people an explicit statement that they fall in love with a person, not a gender. So its simply up to you to say where you feel comfortable with. Some people cannot grasp the bi concept. You might say bi is real preference on a spectrum, like gay is.
BINGO!! I've always used hetero, bi or gay. OK, trans too but to me that doesn't seem to define one's orientation.
Bi is "two," pan is "all." Yes, many bisexual people are not actually attracted to "only" two genders and can be attracted to agender, bigender etc folks. I know that. I choose to make the fact that I feel that way explicit in how I label myself. I see pansexuality as a "subtype" of bisexuality. So I call myself bi, and I call myself pan, depending on who I'm speaking to. I feel comfortable with both, but I like the "all" implication of pan. I suppose I feel it's more inclusive, but that's personal. I fail to understand the comparison. Can someone clarify this for me?
