this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2025
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And also seeing bi/pan as separate options. I'm used to seeing them combined.
People may prefer one term over the other, but those are definitely the same thing.
There is some degree of distinction, I'd say. Bisexuality is attraction defined by the male/female binary, pansexuality is attraction regardless of gender. A person can be bisexual and attracted to cis men and cis women, but not pansexual if they aren't attracted to trans or agendered folks.
Granted, a lot of people who say they're bisexual are probably actually pansexual, but stick with the label that is more widely used and understood out of convenience.
That is not true, and never has been. The dichotomy described by bi in bisexual isn't male/female, it's homo/heterosexual. Pansexual is a subcategory of bisexual, emphasizing that one is attracted to all genders (or regardless of gender), not just a subset of them, equally. Whereas a bisexual might have varying levels of attentions to different genders