Our Favorite Pan Powerhouses in Honor of Pansexual Visibility Day

PANSEXUAL ICONS

Queerness can feel like a high school lunchroom. You have the gays, the lesbians, the bisexuals, aces, and the unlabeled folks. Then the pansexuals, who are the poster children for love is love because they’re literally here to love everyone. The LGBTQ+ community has had a ton of icons come out of the woodwork and it comes as no surprise that many of them take on a label without a spotlight in the acronym. Pansexuals are here, just as they have always been, and deserve the same time to shine. In fact, some of our favorite celebs are pan and they exist to remind us that they’re not going anywhere.

A BRIEF ON THE PAN VS BI DEBATE

Pansexuals don’t see gender as a factor when it comes to falling in love. While bi bitches can have a preference for the masc or femme, pan peeps keep it simple and typically ignore it altogether. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to sexuality and a label is used to help a queer person shape their identity. So no, Pansexuals aren’t just bisexuals who want to be different. Use your critical thinking skills and picture a Venn Diagram in your head–bi on one side, pan on the other–there might be some overlap, but the differences are there. What’s most important is to keep an open mind. Even if you don’t get it, they do. 

CRUSHING ON KESHA

Kesha was the wildest it-girl of the 2010s and it comes as no surprise that her heart is as big as her personality. While known for her raunchy lyrics from her early years as an artist, she has transcended and grown from her teenage dirtbag image into an independent and mature artist. Coming out the other side of a long standing legal battle with her former producer Dr. Luke, her new album Gag Order highlights her the deep complexities of emotions and autonomy.

From her sexually explicit lyrics to her deeper pop pieces from her latest work, Kesha is a pansexual powerhouse. Sexuality isn’t all a person is, of course, but it’s meaningful to the queer community to see someone as strong as Kesha representing them in the mainstream. In an interview with Seventeen, Kesha said, “I don't love just men. I love people. It's not about a gender. It's just about the spirit that exudes from that other person you're with.” Her journey as an artist is an admirable one, and we can’t wait to see where she goes from here.

JANELLE MONAE

Janelle Monáe is on the frontlines of the queer agenda. As a non-binary pansexual artist, their very existence is revolutionary. Coming out in 2018, they said, when it comes to sharing details about their identity, "nobody tells me what to do." Their sexuality and gender expression transcends the binary in a very literal way. The person comes first, for pansexuals and gender-nonconforming folks.

Monáe’s relationship with pansexuality is a fluid one. For a long time in their career, they identified as bisexual. Upon reading about pansexuality, though, they felt a deeper connection with that label. The queer experience isn’t linear. For a lot of LGBTQ+ people, we discover our preferences and labels along the way. What it really boils down to is the acceptance of oneself and the changes that come along the way. 

MADISON BAILEY

Known for her role as Kiara on Netflix’s Outerbanks, Madison Bailey is queer representation undercover. While her character has confusing feelings about her boy best friends, Bailey is confident in her sexuality and is proudly pansexual. She came out on an Instagram Live, stating that she cares about what is on the inside of a person rather than their gender. Outerbanks garnered viewers of all ages and to have someone as open and candid about their preferences as Bailey is a step in the right direction.

People in the public eye have a responsibility to be a role model. Bailey takes her platform to the next level, encouraging LGBTQ+ youth to come out and embrace the freedom of owning their identity. "If you're gay, tell everybody that you're gay. It's worth it," she said on an Instagram Live during Pride Month. What better time than the present, right?

NICO TORTORELLA

In a feature with Mood Magazine, Nico Tortorella expressed their thoughts on queer identities. “You don’t have to be one thing for the rest of your life. … Play with your sexuality, play with gender identity, play with your expression,” they said. We couldn’t agree more. Tortorella openly plays with gender expression and sexuality–proudly pansexual. As an actor, being on the big screen invites criticism and Tortorella never fails to rise above it all. Being as vocal as they are, they are making history sharing the screen with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Something unique about Tortorella’s sexuality is their flexible use of labels. It comes as no shock that their belief system when it comes to identity is to be as open and experimental as they want. They flip between using the terms pansexual and bisexual. While the difference is there, Tortorella believes that labels oversimplify sexuality and that their reason behind using them in the first place is to feel the support and company of the queer community. 

PANSEXUAL PRIDE IN THE PUBLIC EYE

It will always be important to support queer people in industry spaces, especially those who fall into smaller percentages of the community like pansexuality. Pansexuals are becoming more and more comfortable being proud in their identities as well as their career, and it’s essential to keep those voices growing in numbers. The more accepting people are when it comes to others’ identity, the sooner we’ll begin to see more diversity in creativity. Pansexuals deserve the same respect and advocacy as our other favs.