Bisexual and pansexual identities often look the same

Bi Radical

Bisexual and pansexual identities often look the same:

• Both bisexual and pansexual people might feel desire towards any amount of genders. People who feel desire towards people of more than one, more than two, many, multiple or all genders can identify as bisexual or as pansexual (or really anything else): The word people use to name their sexual identity does not predict or convey the number of genders they might desire.
• Both bisexual and pansexual people might be cisgender, transgender* or genderqueer*: Whether people identify as bi or pan does not predict or convey their gender identity.

• Both bisexual and pansexual people can support transgender* and genderqueer* liberation/rights: Whether people identify as bi or pan does not predict or convey their levels of such support or their levels of transphobia/cissexism.
• Both bisexual and pansexual people can support bisexual* liberation/rights: Whether people identify as bi or pan does not predict or convey their levels of such support or their levels of biphobia (and yes, people who identify as bi can be biphobic, too).

Bisexual identity and pansexual identity are not the same:

• Bisexuality comes from a type of political thought based on sexual identity, pansexuality comes from a type of political thought based on gender identity: Talk to a bi person about bisexuality, they’ll often talk about sexuality and desire, and focus on biphobia; talk to a pan person about pansexuality, they’ll often talk about transgender and genderqueer identities, and focus on transphobia.
• The definition of pansexuality is often dependent on the definition of bisexuality (and, dare I say, the rejection thereof): If bisexuality is defined as desire towards people of more than one gender, pansexuality can be defined as desire towards people of more than two genders; if bisexuality is defined as desire towards people of many genders, pansexuality can be defined as desire towards people of all genders; if bisexuality is defined as desire towards people of genders similar + different than our own, pansexuality can be defined as desire regardless of gender. But: both bisexuality and pansexuality can - and have - been defined as any of these things.

And herein lies the problem: many pansexuals feel the need to define bisexuality as attraction to no more than two genders (a definition which most outspoken bisexuals here on tumblr vehemently dispute) in order to constitute the difference as related to desire rather than as related to politics. This is where all the erasure and biphobia comes into play and where it gets fucked up, violent, silencing and oppressive.

Another problem here is that this kind of dependency on meaning and comparison erases pansexuality as an identity in its own right. I’d like to believe that pansexuality can stand quite well on its own [excuse my ableist language, I couldn’t find an alternative phrase] without being dependent on bisexuality like that.

My advice to everyone on this issue is to stop this focus on the desire-related differences between bisexuality and pansexuality: none can be defined in any way that can be agreed by everyone. Concurrently, I would also advise people to stop defining other people’s identities for them: they can do it perfectly well themselves. Since the pansexual side of the debate is usually the one doing these things, I urge pansexual people to consider the power relations here (obviously working against bisexuals), to take responsibility for themselves on the personal level, and to call each other out and encourage accountability on the community level.

To the bisexual side I would say… try not to assume that all pansexuals are necessarily biphobic or against us. Memes such as “police all the bisexuals” (accompanied with a pansexual flag) convey a lot of justified pain and anger, but they’re still in bad taste as they assume exactly that. Yes, many of them are, and yes we have grown used to expecting a lot of bullshit coming from that direction… but then again, many are not, and we might find even more allies within them yet.

Really, my dream in that regard is to have an awesome shiny bi/pan movement to make an awesome shiny bi/pan revolution with.

Solidarity for all.

Pan-sexual refers to the potential for sexual attractions towards people of all gender identities and and biological sexes.Some self-identified pansexuals refer to themselves as gender blind—that gender and sex are insignificant or irrelevant in determining whether they will be sexually attracted to others. The Oxford dictionary writes that pansexuality “encompasses all kinds of sexuality; not limited or inhibited in sexual choice with regards to gender or activity. Pansexuality can also mean the attraction to a person’s personality, rather than their physical appearance or gender.

People of pan sexuality are people attracted to people without considering their gender. The word pansexual comes from the Greek word ‘pan-’, meaning “all”. Pansexual people are part of the LGBT community.

Pansexuality is different from Bisexuality. Bisexual people are attracted to both men and women, but pansexual people are attracted to any people. This includes people who are neither male nor female. Pansexuality is the opposite to asexuality as pansexuality means a person may be sexually attracted to anyone, but asexuality means a person is sexually attracted to no one.

The term pansexual can take on a variety of different meanings depending on which social group the term is being used in, but it is generally defined as someone who is attracted to other people regardless of their gender or sexual orientation. The word pansexual is used as an inclusive term as opposed to bisexual, as bisexuality only refers to people liking both men and women, and does not including a wider variety of gender neutral or gender fluid terminology.

Pansexual can also refer to an organization, event or group. In this situation, the pansexual is defined as meaning open or welcome to all genders and not referencing one’s sexual orientation or gender.

Occasionally, pansexuality is defined as a person who displays their sexuality in many different ways, or as someone who is open to a variety of sexual activities, although both of these definitions have become rare.Pansexuality is an attraction on a more spiritual level, one might say, and focuses on who the target of affection is, rather than“what,” as do other sexualities.