What are your definitions for bi and pan?

Bi is attraction to two or more genders and pan is attraction to all genders. Someone who is attracted to some but not all genders can clearly explain why they are bi and not pan, whereas it's a bit more complicated for someone who is attracted to all genders but prefers the bi label. Ultimately, the answer is that you're bi because you identify as bi. You can prefer one label over the other for any reason, even if you technically fit the definition of both.

 

Bi- attracted to two genders
Pan- attracted to all genders

The way I see it, all pan people are bi, but not all bi people are (necessarily) pan.

 

And now idk if I'm bi or pan... Well... I guess thats just another thing to find out...

 

It's not restrictive. You can be attracted to two genders, and also other genders. I didn't mean only two genders; sorry if you interpreted it that way. ^^

I probably should've said "at least two genders". ^^

 

Perfect way of putting it. I don't think I could say I'm attracted to all genders, so bi fits me comfortably.

 

To me, bi is the attraction to the two binary genders (male and female, including trans men and trans women) while pan is attraction to multiple or all genders both within and outside of the binary. Bi and pan people can have preferences for certain genders, like a bisexual person preferring females, but still being attracted to males. In the end, the definitions are open to interpretation and can be tweaked to fit the people that identify with them

 

Bi=attracted to more than one gender. Often taken as 'attracted to men and women'.
Pan=attraction regardless of gender, i.e. including cis and trans male and female persons and persons of any non-binary gender.

 

Bi= attraction to two or more genders, which can include binary and non-binary genders.
Pan= attraction to all genders.

I originally chose bi over pan because I initially still felt a strong preference for men when I first began to explore my sexuality (even thought I was only attracted to men and masc-leaning/presenting non-binary people). I felt like bi was a better label for expressing this somewhat strong preference. However, coming out has made me more comfortable with being attracted to the same sex, so that distinction doesn't really apply anymore. Still use bi even though I now consider myself to be attracted to all genders just because I've used it for myself for so long that trying to ID as pan now feels wrong.

 

Personally, I fit in the definition for pan but prefer to identify as bi.

 

I identify as both, as I do fit the definition of both. (I know that doesn't help at all)

 

After a bit of googling, it would seem that another definition of pan that people haven't really mentioned is that pan people feel attraction regardless of the other person's gender, meaning that gender isn't really involved in attraction.

I think that's an important thing to discern - after all, I identify as bi despite being fine with relationships with trans and non-binary people because the other person's gender would impact the nature of my feelings towards them.

 

I've wondered sometimes if I should use pan instead of bi...

I think there are *aspects of my sexuality that are pan. Like, I would date someone non-binary, and ultimately I don't really care about gender if I like someone no matter how much my "preferences" are tipping.

But then there are aspects about it that I think aren't like...

I think pan is being "gender blind", or gender is irrelevant to attraction, and I know that's not the case for me. Especially when my attraction swings one way more than the other.

Essentially, to me "bi" is:
Being attracted to two or more genders, which can be different sorts of attraction, different amounts of attraction, liking different genders for different reasons, can also *only be attraction to 2 genders

And "pan" is more...:
Being attracted to any gender, the same degrees, gender-"blind", attraction to attributes transcending gender.

If my bi-ness was less fluid, I'd probably just use pan But seeing as it feels a lot less fixed, I stick with bi...

Although thinking about this, I guess they can sort of over-lap.

 

My understanding:

Bisexual - attracted to people of more than one sex or gender

Pansexual - potentially attracted to a person of any sex or gender

I consider pan to be under the bi umbrella.

 

I personally define pansexual as sexual attraction that transcends the gender ID of the other person. I can be attracted to people of any gender identity - it's other characteristics of a person, both physical and not, that define whether I think they are attractive. I also use it because I tend to be attracted to other queer people who often don't fit neatly into categories, and most sexuality labels require the other person to fit some kind of clear-cut definition.

 

Bisexuals are attracted to people of more than one gender.

Pansexuals are bisexual hipsters that want to sound cool. :icon_wink

 

Somewhat agree, sadly

 

Bisexual means being attracted to two genders, typically male and female.

Pansexual means being attracted to people of any gender, including nonbinary genders and others.