Pansexual is Bisexual

Last week was National Bisexual Awareness week, and if you were not aware, I, Shann (co-founder at SQC), am in fact a bisexual, and by default also fall into the label of a pansexual. I have seen the “how are they different” arguments, however, when the articles begin to define the two terms, it is often the same exact meaning, just using different language.

Which hasn’t, for me at least, clarified anything other than confirming the terms are pretty much interchangeable. So as an elder millennial, I figured I could dust off my LGBT history books, do some research, and see if I could clear up the confusion.

To start, the term bisexual came long before pansexual, in fact the modern usage is even different from the original meaning.

“In 1859, anatomist Robert Bentley Todd first used the term ‘bisexuality' to refer to the possession of ‘male’ and ‘female’ physical characteristics in the same body – today, we might understand this as being intersex.” - Martha Robinson Rhodes, a PhD in Bisexual History

Dr. Rhodes explains further that it wasn’t until sexoligsts of the 19th Century, Henry Havelock Ellis and Richard von Krafft-Ebing, that the word began to shift towards the meaning we know now. Dr. Rhodes states they, “explored evolution and speculated about “the latent organic bi-sexuality in each sex”, noting that “at an early stage of development, the sexes are indistinguishable.”

In the 1910s the terminology gets muddy, as people like Sigmund Freud would use the term to refer to both being of more than one gender and being sexually attracted to more than on gender. In wasn’t until the 1970s that bisexual was more commonly used to define it as we know today.

Dr. Rhodes describes further, “Bi terminology and politics have continued to evolve since the 1980s. While definitions of bisexuality initially focused on attractions to ‘both’ genders, over time it became more common to refer to ‘attraction to more than one gender’. The term ‘pansexual’ became popular in the 1990s in response to concerns about bisexuality upholding the gender binary, using the prefix ‘pan’ (‘all’) to suggest attraction that is not limited by gender. But this doesn’t mean that bi people are therefore only attracted to two genders. Some people attracted to more than one gender identify as both bi and pan, some as one or the other, and some as neither.”

To simplify, bisexual (based on common use since the 1980s) means to be attracted to more than one gender, which has always included those outside of the binary, not just liking two genders.

Pansexual was a term created to try to better explain bisexuality, and uses the root word for all. Which would then imply, every pansexual is in fact bisexual. And every bisexual is a pansexual, and if a bisexual were to state they don’t date trans people, then that is transphobia dears, not a sexual preference.

Sexual preference is characteristics like hair color, height difference, or their esthetic style tastes, not whether or not someone is the gender they identify as. You can have a preference about the music you listen to but not if the trans community is a part of the LGBTQIA+ or not.

Therefore, Bisexual is Pansexual, and Pansexual is Bisexual.

No matter what you call us, know we are as mysterious as the depths of the sea and mostly runoff of vibes and caffeine. Being bi has always been a confusing rjourney, so it makes sense that it all started with the term itself.

Now go let your favorite bisexual/pansexual know you are aware of them today!