Pansexuality is a sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction toward people regardless of their sex or gender identity. This means pansexual people may be attracted to individuals of all genders, including men, women, non-binary, transgender, and others outside the traditional gender binary
. The term "pan" comes from the Greek prefix meaning "all," reflecting the inclusivity of attraction to all gender identities. Pansexual people often describe themselves as "gender-blind," meaning gender is not a determining factor in their attraction; instead, they may be attracted to qualities such as personality or other traits beyond gender
. Pansexuality is sometimes considered a distinct sexual orientation or viewed as a branch of bisexuality. The key distinction is that bisexuality generally refers to attraction to two or more genders, while pansexuality explicitly rejects gender as a factor in attraction, encompassing all genders without preference
. In summary, pansexuality means:
- Attraction to people regardless of their gender or sex
- Openness to relationships with all gender identities, including non-binary and transgender people
- Often described as gender-blind attraction, focusing on the person rather than gender
- Different from bisexuality in its explicit inclusivity of all genders without distinction
