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What's the difference between Pansexuals and Trans-friendly bisexuals?

Discussion in 'Sexual Orientation' started by Spoopy Monster, Sep 25, 2016.

  1. Spoopy Monster

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    I don't mean to sound ignorant or be offensive at all, just genuinely curious. I've heard both terms as of recently and from what I understand, don't they mean the same thing?
     
  2. Chiroptera

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  3. butHitlerisDead

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    There's a lot of overlap between the terms, and in some ways it just comes down to personal preference as to which you choose to identify rather than much of a difference between who you're attracted to.

    The way I see it is bisexuals and pansexuals can be attracted to the same groups of people but it comes down to how gender influences your attraction of those people. Bisexual means attraction to both men and women whereas pansexual means attraction to people regardless of gender. Therefore bisexuals may be attracted to men and women (cis or trans) for different reasons whereas to pansexuals gender is not a factor in how they are attracted to a person.

    It's a very slight, and arguably, meaningless, distinction, which is why there's debate as to why we even need two different terms at all. So, again, at the end of the day, it's basically just personal preference whether someone wants to identify as bi or pan.

    Transgender people really don't have much to do with it because they're men or women too, and we don't need a separate label to say something like "I'm attracted to cis men, cis women, and trans men but not trans women." We all have our preferences and there's no need, in my opinion at least, to get bogged down with labels for every little variation.
     
    #3 butHitlerisDead, Sep 25, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2016
  4. darkcomesoon

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    The only clear difference is that some bisexual people are attracted to only two genders or to only some genders, whereas pansexual people are attracted to all genders. That being said, bisexual people can be attracted to all genders too, so there is significant overlap between the terms.

    A lot of the time, choosing between the labels just comes down to the politics surrounding them or the cultural connotation of the label.

    A lot of people say pansexual means attraction regardless of gender whereas bisexual people still factor gender into their attraction, but that doesn't have to be true. That's more of a cultural connotation that comes with the label than a strict definition.

    And don't worry, your question wasn't offensive at all! It's a super valid question to ask.
     
    #4 darkcomesoon, Sep 27, 2016
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2016