Last night, an acquaintance asked me the difference between #bisexual and #pansexual. Here's what I told them.
Yeah, it can be confusing. I'll tell you how I see it.
Bisexual is an attraction to men and women, usually the binary, less so to others in a fluid or non-binary identification.
Pansexual is an attraction to people regardless of gender or presentation.
Some believe them to be two names for the same thing.
@Graci This is helpful. I guess in my mind I always related pan sexual to being open to all genders and different types of relationships (monogamy, poly, etc.). So very good to know.
That was my understanding, but I've found millennials and younger describe it as:
Bisexual is "my gender and other genders" (lots of nonbinary folks use it this way). Gender is part of the attraction, and there may be a gender they are not attracted to.
whereas
Pansexual is attraction regardless of gender.