You may remember the first time Miley Cyrus, then 23, identified herself as pansexual in an interview with Paper magazine.

In the days following the interview, there was a huge wave of ridicule directed at her, as if she had to come out to justify, explain or apologize for something. The world is cruel and as long as he refuses to learn more about the aspects of the LGBTI+ community, he will stigmatize anyone who is not straight!

What does the term “pansexual” mean?

The definition of “pansexual” in the dictionary is as follows: Pansexuality is the sexual, romantic or emotional attraction to people regardless of their gender or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as “gender-blind”, claiming that gender and gender identity are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others.

How does pansexuality differ from bisexuality?

Of course, it might be a little more complicated than that, especially for someone who grew up in a time when the only widely used words for one’s sexuality were gay, lesbian, and bi. Many identified themselves as bisexual, believing that gender does not play a role in attraction to the other person. What they don’t know is that being bisexual ultimately defines attraction to men and women, thereby excluding anyone who doesn’t fit into these gender binaries, which is a common misconception. So the term “bisexual” began to seem exclusive, and pansexuality became a better definition for people whose gender does not play a role in attraction.

To be fair, these distinctions seem redundant to many because there may well be some bisexuals who are exclusively attracted to cisgender men or women, but the majority of bisexual people describe themselves as such because they don’t see any kind of gender as a mitigating factor in their attraction. In this sense, then, the terms “pansexual” and “bisexual” can be used interchangeably – without that being definitive of all queer people.

Which celebrities have openly stated that they are pansexual or bisexual?

Miley Cyrus, for example, describes her choice to use the word “pansexual” because she found the label “bisexual” too limiting.

Demi Lovato, Janelle Monáe and Cara Delevingne all come out as bisexual. British singer Yungblud has also described himself as pansexual, as has Panic! Also, Outer Banks star Madison Bailey revealed she is pansexual on TikTok, as did Dance Mons star JoJo Siwa. In 2020, Lib Dem MP Layla Moran became the only pansexual MP to publicly declare her sexuality after starting a relationship with a woman.

How could I tell if I’m pansexual?

With today’s awareness of sexual orientation issues, you can even take an online “pansexuality test” to see if that term best describes your sexuality.

But in reality, you can only do this if you want to clarify within yourself how you want to define yourself. There’s no reason to use a label if you don’t want to, and it certainly doesn’t mean that even if that label goes in, it should define you forever.