What does Pansexual mean? Who can be one?

Pansexuality is a spectrum of sexuality within the LGBT+ community, but what does it mean and who can be pansexual?

One user told THEGAYUK magazine that pansexuality was about “hearts not parts”.

Pansexuality, might not be on your radar as much as homosexuality or bisexuality, but it’s all-inclusive nature has got people falling in love with the sexual and romantic orientation that is pansexuality – which is, essentially hearts, not parts – you fall in love and lust with the heart of someone, not just their biological sex or gender expression.

THEGAYUK asked readers for their best description, here’s what one person told them,

“As a 21-year-old pansexual male, I found that there was a lot of stigma that went with being pansexual and many people don’t understand/know what it means.

“To me, it’s different for different people, I personally think that in my eyes, gender/sexual-orientation does not count towards anything in the way of attraction and in the way of love. I believe that you fall in love with the person and not their genitals or what gender they are attracted to. 

“I have dated various genders, various people with different sexual orientations and yes they have been very different partners and have been very different relationships however the one thing that is, all the same, is the feelings towards that person. The spark that I have felt towards each individual person and that feeling was not towards there genitals, it was towards them as people.

“My opinion of pansexuality is love.

Another user, Alex, told THEGAYUK,

“Love without gender, connection without exclusion, and plenty of fish in the sea”

and another, Eggy, wrote,

“sexual attraction regardless of gender”

According to the MyUmbrella LGBT+ charity, pansexuality is someone who is “sexually attracted to many types of people without regard to biological sex, gender or gender identity”.

Is there a pansexual awareness day or week?

Yes, there is an awareness date for pansexual people. On May the 24th there is the pansexual and panromantic day of awareness. You can check out other LGBT+ dates of awareness and visibility in 2022 here. There is also a Pansexual Pride day on the 8th December.

What are the pansexual flag colours?

The pansexual flag was designed sometime in the mid-2010s. The designer is unknown. It is comprised of three coloured horizontal stripes, from top to bottom: Pink, Yellow and Cyan.