Actor Bella Thorne, who came out on Twitter as bisexual in 2016, recently described herself as pansexual in an interview on Good Morning America.
Thorne, who previously dated YouTuber Tana Mongeau and rapper Mod Sun in a polyamorous relationship, was making an appearance to promote her new book, Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray.
Thorne shared that her sexual identity is not limited based on gender identity in any way. “I’m actually pansexual, and I didn’t know that,” Thorne explained, sharing that someone had “explained” the term to her and that she immediately identified with it.
“You like beings,” Thorne explained about her connection to the identity. “You like what you like. Doesn’t have to be a girl or a guy or a he or she or they or this or that. It’s literally, you like personality. You just like a being.”
The actor added, “I like sexy. I like sexy girls, I like sexy guys, I like sexy in general, you know?”
Pansexual vs. Bisexual: Is There a Difference?
Due in part to what appears to be a growing embrace of the term, many people wonder whether there’s a difference between pansexuality and bisexuality.
Pansexuality is often used to describe a romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of all sexes and genders, or regardless of gender (as Thorne says, “you just like a being”). People also often identify as pansexual in order to be more inclusive of nonbinary, trans, genderfluid, genderqueer and agender people.
The truth is, however, just as fluid as gender and sexuality are. Some people prefer the term “pansexual” but use “bisexual” as well (or instead) because it’s more familiar. Others identify as both pansexual and bisexual because both terms speak to them.
Some use the terms pansexual, bisexual, queer, omnisexual and fluid interchangeably (or any combination of them), or use different terms to describe themselves at different times in their lives or in different contexts (for example, political vs. interpersonal).
Importantly, many bisexual individuals and activists also think of bisexuality as describing an attraction to both one’s own gender and people of any other genders, rather than referencing a division between “two genders.” Others use “bisexual” to mean “attracted to two or more genders.”
Besides Thorne, many other celebrities have recently come out as pansexual, including queer icon Janelle Monae, Jazz Jennings, Miley Cyrus, Tess Holliday and Orange is the New Black’s Asia Kate Dillon. Amandla Stenberg identifies as both pansexual and bisexual, stating that the latter term is more well-known and easier for people to understand.
