Pansexuality
Pansexual · Pan
Added 16 Jul 2026 · Updated 22 Aug 2026
Sexual orientation characterized by attraction to people regardless of sex or gender, rather than attraction bounded by a specific set of genders. Cisgender, transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people are all included.
- Prevalence
- Rare
- Type
- Sexual orientation
- Romantic counterpart
- Panromanticism
- Also known as
- Pansexual, Pan
- Confidence
- Medium confidence
- Sources
- 8 cited
- Added
- 16 Jul 2026
- Updated
- 22 Aug 2026
Overview
Pansexuality is a sexual orientation defined by the capacity for romantic, sexual, or emotional attraction to a person regardless of their sex or gender identity. Advocacy and reference organizations describe it as attraction that is not limited to particular genders, encompassing cisgender men and women as well as transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people (GLAAD). GLAAD's own glossary places the term explicitly "under the bi+ umbrella" alongside bisexual, treating the two labels as overlapping rather than competing categories. The label is often summarized informally as attraction to "the person, not the gender."
The distinction between pansexuality and bisexuality is a matter of self-identification rather than a strict clinical boundary. The Human Rights Campaign's glossary defines pansexual as attraction "to people of any gender" and bisexual as attraction "to more than one gender," and notes that each term is "sometimes used interchangeably" with the other, a reflection of how substantially the two definitions overlap in practice (HRC). No advocacy or clinical body treats one label as a more "evolved" or more inclusive version of the other; which term a person uses is a matter of individual preference rather than a fixed rule. As with other orientation labels, the American Psychological Association frames orientation as an enduring pattern of attraction rather than a chosen or judged behavior (APA).
Examples
Pansexuality is defined by what does not bound the attraction, which is why almost every question about it is a comparison with bisexuality.
What the term covers. Romantic, sexual or emotional attraction to a person regardless of their sex or gender: cisgender men and women, transgender, intersex and non-binary people alike. GLAAD places it explicitly under the bi+ umbrella rather than opposite it. The informal gloss is attraction to the person, not the gender.
What the term does not cover. Bisexuality is defined as attraction to more than one gender, and HRC notes the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably; the choice is self-identification, not a boundary anyone polices. Omnisexuality covers all genders with gender still registering as a factor; polysexuality covers multiple genders but not necessarily all. Panromanticism is the romantic axis alone. And the prefix does not mean attraction to everyone.
How the word is used. "Pan-sexualism" was coined around 1914 by critics of Freud, to mock the claim that sexual instinct underlies all motivation; Freud's own 1921 essay uses the German cognate. "Pansexual" resurfaced by the 1970s alongside "omnisexual", was used as a personal identity label in BDSM communities before spreading, and consolidated in its present sense through the 1990s. National polling now tracks it as a volunteered category.
History
The root term entered English decades before it named an identity. In 1914, opponents of Sigmund Freud coined "pan-sexualism" to characterize psychoanalytic theory as reducing all human motivation to a sexual instinct, a hostile, clinical usage with no connection to self-identified attraction; the German cognate Pansexualismus subsequently appears in Freud's own 1921 essay Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego (Wikipedia). "Pansexual" resurfaced by the 1970s as one of several terms (alongside "omnisexual" and the older "bisexual") used to describe attraction not confined to one or two genders; the anthology Bi Any Other Name records pansexual people as active participants in bisexual community organizing from that decade forward (Wikipedia). Social psychologist Nikki Hayfield traces early use of "pansexual" as a personal identity label to BDSM communities, and the word consolidated into its present sense (an orientation defined by attraction irrespective of gender) over the 1990s (Wikipedia). Broader public visibility followed through the 2010s and 2020s, and national polling organizations now track pansexual as a volunteered identity category distinct from bisexual, gay, and lesbian (Gallup).
Demographics & research
National polling captures pansexual identification as a small but consistently measured slice of the broader LGBTQ+ population. In a March 2024 report on its 2023 telephone survey of American adults, Gallup found bisexual the most common LGBTQ+ identity, claimed by 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults (4.4% of all adults surveyed), while pansexual and asexual were the next-most commonly volunteered identities, each named by fewer than 2% of LGBTQ+ adults (Gallup). Gallup gathers these figures from open-ended questions rather than a fixed checklist of options, a methodology that affects how newer, smaller identity labels like pansexual are counted relative to more established ones like bisexual.
Terminology & related identities
Pansexuality belongs to the plurisexual grouping of orientations (identities directed at more than one sex or gender) alongside bisexuality, polysexuality, and omnisexuality. Among its closest neighbors, omnisexuality is commonly distinguished as attraction to people of all genders in which gender remains a noticeable factor in that attraction, rather than the gender-immaterial framing more commonly associated with pansexuality (Wikipedia). Polysexuality, by contrast, describes attraction to multiple genders without requiring attraction to all of them, the Greek prefix poly- ("many") marking the distinction from pansexuality's pan- ("all") (Wikipedia). The romantic-orientation counterpart, panromanticism, applies the same "attraction unbounded by gender" framing to romantic rather than sexual attraction. Because pansexual and bisexual definitions overlap so heavily among people who use either label, reference guides caution against treating the choice between them as a hierarchy of inclusivity; it reflects individual self-identification rather than a difference in who a person is attracted to (GLAAD).
Common misconceptions
Advocacy organizations most often correct the assumption that pansexuality is a more "evolved," more inclusive, or more politically correct version of bisexuality. The Trevor Project states plainly that pansexuality "isn't a more evolved or 'politically correct' form of bisexuality; it isn't more or less trans/nonbinary inclusive; it's just a word to describe one kind of sexual orientation" (The Trevor Project).
A second, unrelated misconception reads the "pan" (all) in pansexual as meaning attraction to literally anyone. The Trevor Project frames the label instead as removing gender as a factor in attraction, not as removing selectivity altogether: a pansexual person, like a person of any other orientation, is drawn to some people and not others (The Trevor Project).
Common questions
What does pansexual mean?
Being capable of romantic, sexual or emotional attraction to a person regardless of their sex or gender identity, including cisgender, transgender, intersex and non-binary people. GLAAD places the term under the bi+ umbrella rather than in competition with bisexual. It is often summarised as attraction to the person rather than the gender.
What is the difference between pansexual and bisexual?
Less than the argument around it suggests. HRC defines pansexual as attraction to people of any gender and bisexual as attraction to more than one gender, and notes the two are sometimes used interchangeably. Which word someone uses is a matter of self-identification, community history and emphasis; no advocacy or clinical body treats either as more inclusive than the other.
Is pansexuality a more inclusive version of bisexuality?
No, and The Trevor Project addresses the claim directly: pansexuality is not a more evolved or more politically correct form of bisexuality, is not more or less trans and non-binary inclusive, and is simply a word for one kind of sexual orientation. The idea that one label supersedes the other is a misreading of what both mean.
Does pansexual mean being attracted to everyone?
No. The prefix removes gender as a factor in attraction; it does not remove selectivity. A pansexual person is drawn to some people and not others, exactly as anyone of any orientation is. The Trevor Project frames the label this way explicitly, against a reading of "pan" as meaning literally anyone.
How many people are pansexual?
A small share, and hard to pin down because of how it is measured. Gallup's March 2024 report on its 2023 survey found bisexual the most common LGBTQ identity at 57.3% of LGBTQ adults, with pansexual and asexual the next most commonly volunteered, each named by fewer than 2% of LGBTQ adults, which works out to roughly 0.1% of all US adults. Gallup uses open-ended questions rather than a checklist, which affects how newer labels are counted.
Where does the word pansexual come from?
From an insult. Critics of Sigmund Freud coined "pan-sexualism" around 1914 to characterise psychoanalysis as reducing all human motivation to sexual instinct; Freud's own 1921 essay Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego uses the German cognate. The word resurfaced in the 1970s as an orientation term, was used as a personal label in BDSM communities, and settled into its current meaning during the 1990s.
BisexualitySexual orientation defined by attraction to more than one gender, classically described as attraction to both men and women. Contemporary usage often defines it as attraction to two or more genders.
OmnisexualitySexual orientation describing attraction to people of all genders, in which gender is consciously registered and may shape the attraction. It is commonly contrasted with pansexuality's gender-blind framing.
PolysexualitySexual orientation defined by attraction to multiple genders, but (unlike pansexuality) not necessarily to all genders.
PanromanticismRomantic orientation describing romantic attraction to people that is not limited by gender. It is pansexuality's romantic-attraction counterpart and figures centrally in the split attraction model.
From the Greek prefix pan- ("all") + sexual. "Pan-sexualism" first appeared in English around 1914 in psychoanalytic criticism aimed at Freud's theory that the sex instinct underlies all human motivation; the word had no relation to personal identity at that point. The German cognate Pansexualismus appears in Freud's own 1921 essay Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego. "Pansexual" resurfaced alongside "bisexual" and "omnisexual" by the 1970s and was adopted as a self-descriptive identity label from the 1990s onward.
Prevalence is computed from the entry's cited population estimate. Rows marked ESTare indicative editorial estimates scored against a fixed anchor rubric, not measured quantities. Method & anchors: methodology.
Rare · ≈ 1 in 1,000
Basis: Gallup 2023 (reported March 2024): LGBTQ+ adults are 7.6% of U.S. adults, and pansexual is volunteered by fewer than 2% of LGBTQ+ adults, placing pansexual identification at roughly 0.1-0.15% of all U.S. adults.
- 01GLAAD Media Reference Guide, LGBTQ termsDefinition of pansexual as attraction regardless of gender, including trans/intersex/nonbinary people; placement of pansexual "under the bi+ umbrella"; framing vs. bisexuality as self-identification, not a hierarchy of inclusivity.
- 02Human Rights Campaign, Glossary of TermsDefinitions of pansexual and bisexual, and HRC's note that the two terms are "sometimes used interchangeably."
- 03American Psychological Association, Sexual orientation and homosexualityOrientation as an enduring, non-chosen pattern of attraction.
- 04Wikipedia, PansexualityEtymology of pan-sexualism (1914 anti-Freudian criticism, German Pansexualismus in Freud's Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego), 1970s reappearance alongside omnisexual/bisexual and Bi Any Other Name's account of pansexual involvement in bisexual organizing, Nikki Hayfield on early BDSM-community usage, and 1990s consolidation as an identity label.
- 05Gallup, LGBTQ+ Identification in U.S. Now at 7.6%2023 survey figures: bisexual is 57.3% of LGBTQ+ adults (4.4% of all U.S. adults); pansexual and asexual each volunteered by fewer than 2% of LGBTQ+ adults; open-ended survey methodology.
- 06Wikipedia, OmnisexualityOmnisexuality defined as attraction to all genders in which gender remains a noticeable factor, distinguishing it from pansexuality's gender-immaterial framing.
- 07Wikipedia, PolysexualityPolysexuality defined as attraction to multiple but not necessarily all genders; poly- ("many") vs. pan- ("all") prefix distinction.
- 08The Trevor Project, "Pansexuality: What It Is, What It Isn't"Corrects the misconception that pansexuality is a more "evolved"/inclusive form of bisexuality, and the misconception that pansexual means attraction to literally anyone.