Okay, here we go. Since I was young, it was common for me to have crushes on both boys and girls. Since my first crushes were male, I thought I was straight. I started doubting that when my first female crushes appeared. After a while, I noticed I was attracted to both. But I also noticed something more important: I can love anyone, regardless of their gender or how they identify. I just... Don't think so much about it. If I like a person, I like that person and that's it. (I'm currently dating a guy) So... Do you guys think I'm bisexual? Or pansexual? I really wanted to understand.
A lot of people here would say you don't need to apply labels to yourself. Very easy to start an EC Holy War, in fact. It's not a lot of information to go off, but I'd say pansexual because, as you said, you can love anyone.
Yeah, I guess I should tell more before anyone gives me advice. So... Something I consider interesting about me is that when I start liking someone, I do that in a very... innocent way. I think about holding hands, forehead kisses, that kind of stuff. I only start thinking about sex if I'm really into that person, specially if we're dating. It is really rare for me to be interested in sex unless I actually love the person. About that... I always become sexually attracted to people I date, regardless of their gender or how they identify. If I like them for real, at some point I'll start being... Well, horny about them. A little bit like demisexuals.
When asked I usually identify as bisexual, but pansexual is more accurate for me. I am attracted to people by their personality, not their gender. Bisexual is just the easier answer that I find myself getting caught up in using.
Yeah, I kind of fall in love with people's hearts, not their body. Like with my current boyfriend. At first, we could only pay attention to each other's personality. We would talk for hours about how much we complete each other, and about all the fun things we would do together, like going to amusement parks and holding hands in the roller coaster. But after dating for a while, I started feeling more... Sexual about him. Not that I left the other lovey-dovey things behind. I don't really know how to explain.
This is my take. Personally I like men and women and would like to have both relationships and sexual relations with both. However, and this where I think pan and bi differ, I for some reason could not feel the same way about a pre-op transgendered person. The idea of a male face with a vagina or a female face with a penis really throws me off and I just couldn't see that person in that way. If you can, then you're pan.
I see... Thanks to you all for helping me learn the differences (between bi and pan). I might take some time to find out which one I am, since I never liked intersex/trans people/etc before, but now it's much easier to understand.
This is how I am too. I honestly don't see any difference between a male, female, or trans person. I don't have any feelings or reactions which depend on a person's private parts or clothing. This can have awkward and unexpected consequences, such as when I go to the doc for a pap smear and am on the verge of a panic attack because i don't like strangers touching me... and the nurses tell me 'oh honey, don't worry, we'll get a female doctor to examine you." Uh thanks, totally not helping, but it's a nice thought.
