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There are some transphobes and/or enbyphobes who will insist that bisexual means attraction to only two genders, and we all know why they're doing that.

Others will say that bisexual means they based on the meaning of the prefix "bi-". But that is the etymological fallacy. The current meaning of a word is not necessarily related to its etymological origin. Words change meaning literally all the time, and we should all be nonplussed about it by now [1].

In reality, words only mean what people generally understand them to mean [2]. Most dictionaries still retain, at least implicitly, a two definition, but most LGBT+ orgs and psychological associations and whatnot tend to define it as "more than one" gender, or similar.

Similarly, pansexual is generally defined as attraction to all genders or attraction being irrelevant of gender in the vast majority of places that care to declare a definition. But there are those who use it to mean the same thing as the latter definition of bisexual because they believe bisexual to mean the former definition of bisexual.

So what is the actual difference? It probably depends where you are and who you're talking to. Womp womp.

There's a joke/stereotype that many people who describe themselves as bi are attracted to one specific type of guy, and literally all women.

In my practical experience, people are more likely to identify as bisexual if they tend have a preference for certain gender presentations over others, and more likely to identify as pansexual if they are (closer to being) equally horny for all. Or if they have a preference for more pastel colours.

🤷‍♀️

[1] Even I believe, in my heart, that using the word nonplussed this way is wrong.

[2] Ha! I got the linguistic prescriptivists and the logicians with that one!

Bisexuals are salt water and pansecuals are freshwater. But fr from my understanding bisexual started as an exonym (originaly it meant something like hermafroditism but later it became about orientation), and since bisexual people have always been subject to erasure they latched onto it. Of course this term came to existence when the academic view of gender was binary so way later people wanted to update the label to reflect the change in paradigm but a lot of older people had become very attached to the laber and refused to change it and then people tried to rationalize differences but they are so subtle that imo is an exercise in futility.

I use both , but use pan online where people are more likely to understand me and bi irl cause for a lot of people the label pan feels completely alien.

You can only be bisexual if you are from the bisexual region of France, else you are sparkling pansexual

I thought pansexuals needed to be seasoned first and washed immediately after each use then thoroughly patted dry?

Just a heads up to everyone that has a Bisexuality definition that isn't Bisexual, I'd really recommend not putting anti-trans labels and bullshit on Bi people, it's never failed too piss off every Bi person I've ever been or known.

F all this. I'm omni

Pansexual because gender and physical looks are mostly irrelevant to what you find sexually attractive

Bisexual because you find both sexes physically attractive making gender mostly irrelevant

Bisexuals have a tomato base while pansexuals are more teriyaki.

By most definitions I’d consider myself pansexual, but boy do I like the bi flag more, so that is what I typically use. And it’s easier for a layman to understand.