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NATIVE CULTURE

What Is Pansexuality And Why Is It So Popular In Modern Film & TV?

PBS Origins | December 11, 2025



#queer #bigmouth #pansexual

Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. All fabulous identities along with many more that are housed under the LGBTQIA+ community. And yet, in recent film and TV, there’s one identity that has been particularly visible: pansexuality. Professor Bainbridge along with special guests Megan Townsend and Fran Tirado take a look at the history of queer representation to tell us why pansexuality has become so popular.

Resources:
An Injustice! Mag. Etymological timeline of pansexual.
https://aninjusticemag.com/pansexual-an-etymological-timeline-d44fe2bb364

GLAAD. Where We Are on TV Report 2021-2022.
https://www.glaad.org/whereweareontv21

GLAAD. Resources for the LGBTQIA+ community compiled by GLAAD.
https://www.glaad.org/resourcelist

Credits:
Director: Dolly Li
Producer: Tien Nguyen
Consulting Producer: Danielle Bainbridge
Associate Producer: Mia Faske
On-camera appearances by: Danielle Bainbridge, Fran Tirado, Megan Townsend
Written by: Dolly Li and Tien Nguyen
Voiceover by: Kiana Taylor
Director of Photography: Brain Inocencio
Online Editor & Motion Graphics: Travis Hatfield
Assistant Editor: Josaen Ronquillo
Additional Motion Graphics: Jonathan Gil
Researchers: Faith Petrie and Kiana Taylor
Makeup Artist: Dawn Coleman
Set Designer: Tori Laxalt
Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy

Post-production services & facilities provided by: Flash Cuts
Executive Producer for Flash Cuts: Eurie Chung
Executive Producers for CAAM: Stephen Gong, Donald Young
Supervising Producer for CAAM: Sapana Sakya
Coordinating Producer for CAAM: Czarina Garcia
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing

This program is a production of Plum Studios and the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).

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Written by PBS Origins

Comments

This post currently has 38 comments.

  3. @hemenemy

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    Both bisexuals and pansexuals understand their own sexualities as meaning the same thing, which is something many comments have said. – Additionally, even if bisexuals were only attracted to men and women, it is transphobic to imply that bisexuals would not also be attracted to transgender men and transgender women, in the same way that a man is straight if he dates a trans woman, regardless of how far along she is in transition.

  11. @mófǎ_shàonǚ

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    I only date Bi and Pan people who are honest and out with their sexuality. I like Bisexuals, but i LOVE Pansexuals even more ! I'm very open minded, so i love exploring all kinds of sexual experiences with people of all genders. I find heterosexuality so boring and limited. (btw), LADIES ! be careful ! alot of these so called "Straight" men out there are not so hetero as they pretend to be, they secretly like to do things with other men on the down low and being sneaky about it…

  14. @BOOG3YMXN

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    There is no reason to talk about this subject on PBS. This is the furthest from any topic that needs to be brought to the public eye. Where you Stick your genitals in has nothing to do with public broadcasting and education in the slightest. That's for you and the community that you identify with. DONOT BRING YOUR GARBARGE HERE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE.

  22. @cominginsecond

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    There is no difference between bisexuality and pansexuality because everyone is biologically either male or female. Bi means two and sex refers to one's biological sex. Creating a new term for bisexuality is just pretentious navel gazing.

  23. @elsafier8741

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    it's not that I don't appreciate this episode being made, I just feel like you can't talk about pansexuality without talking about how bisexual people have been facing prejudice and discrimination in media and irl throughout the arc of gay liberation movement. there's nothing wrong with pansexuality not carrying the negative reputation that bisexuality does, but it's not purely positive progress for pansexuality to gain visibility while never redeeming the reputation of bisexuality, especially when you choose to draw on examples like Ali wong in big mouth actively trashing bisexuality.

    many of my strong feelings on this come from being a trans woman. we have spent decades being absolutely gutted by media and having that have a very material effect on the way we're treated by the world, only to have the cis world swimming in self congratulation for platforming every single kind of trans person except for those subject to transmisogyny. from big mouth painting all trans people as inherently separate from anyone else a cis person might be attracted to–simply by virtue of having transitioned, to mtv suddenly platforming every kind of genderqueer person under the sun.. but absolutely not a single transfeminine person, to this episode having a veeeery cis passing genderqueer person be the voice of the community, A GOOD HALF OF THIS KIND OF INCLUSION IS ERASURE. I was waiting the entire episode for it to be so much as mentioned and they did not say a single critical or non-positive thing. this is why trans women don't trust non-medically transitioning non-binary people–we're all one family with shared struggles, but the cis world is so ready to kick us out the back door as they come in the front so they can pretend they were the only ones in the house all along and never have to so much as acknowledge our existence.

  27. @asterthedisaster

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    That big mouth episode was so discouraging to see onscreen as a bi person. Undoubtedly unfixable damage has been done with how horrendously inaccurate its description of bisexuality was, and it was very disappointing after what seemed like a well written arc about Jay's bisexuality. I'm so tired of being told that I'm "actually pan" because I like people regardless of gender. I'm bi.

  31. @polnareffstoenail

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    I'm sorry, please educate me if I'm wrong, but every explanation of pansexual has always sounded biphobic and made bi people out to be prejudice. "Bi ppl don't date trans, nb, they have a preference" when a majority don't. Bi no lean is a thing.

  32. @hugeuglygorillaz9599

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    I come from a VERY phobic family (homo trans-… you name it they hate) and when my daughter was 13 she did one of those Thanksgiving turkey in school (the ones where you write what you're thankful for on each feather). One said "my friends" and another said "my girlfriend". Seeing this, I said "Sweetie…"
    "Yeah?"
    "My girlfriend?"
    She froze completely and true terror was all over her face as she waited for me to say the same stuff Mamaw always says to/about my cousin (she used to be my sister's BFF until she came out).
    I just shrugged and said "Heh, I kinda like girls too."
    The wave of relief that washed over her… I actually saw her get shorter (I know she didn't but it looked like it) cause all of her muscles relaxed at one and that fear was gone.

    Last week, her little sister (12 years old to her, now 14) was in the school play and, after the performance, she introduced me to some little girl named Tracy. She was super fidgety and excited while introducing us and it didn't click why so I asked, joking, "Why are you about to rocketshoe of some introduction (rocketshoe = blast off and fly around the room)? What awesome about Tracy? Is she a secret agent? "

    "Daaaaaaad…" (I was killing the moment, apparently.

    "Tracy isn't just my friend…"
    It took about 5 seconds of her staring at me with Lazer beam eyes then it hit me.
    "Ooooooohhhh… Daddy is dumb, sweetie, you know this." So I hugged Tracy and told my daughter I'd be in the car."

    Idk why I'm not like the rest. No different upbringing than any of the others but the whole "gays are bad because… reasons" thing just seemed odd to me.

    I am really dumb, though.. I get lost with pronoun. I've had several people explain them to me. I doesn't stick, idk why. I just casual slip in the "please don't destroy me if I screw up, I swear I don't suck, I'm just stupid" speech early on so I don't accidentally offend

  35. @Pou1gie1

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    I feel like this presentation missed the mark on ethnic and/or racial representation and timespan (maybe because the ppl producing this are too young to know or remember certain programming). White 90's TV shows weren't the start of this…what about The Women of Brewster Place (1989, featuring Black women) or Noah's Arc (2005, featuring mostly Black men). I definitely think they missed an opportunity to talk about WBP, as it was ground breaking and never gets its flowers. Maybe age representation is missing at the production table for this show!

  36. @minniemice2872

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    so pansexual is nothing but a bisexual they will have sex with anyone willing to have sex with them. . i see.. they should walk around with a pink on blue star so normal people don't ask them for a date. that could be embarrassing .& I'm sure they wouldn't want to embarrass anyone.

  37. @d3m3nt3dmous3

    December 11, 2025 at 7:35 am

    Almost all of the pansexuals I know are actually more like exclusively straight, gay, or bi. Maybe they got drunk once and had sex with a trans person at one point, or something. Hashtag NotAllPans, of course, but I feel like there's this societal pressure to call yourself pansexual just to make yourself seem not sexist or anti-trans or whatever.

Comments are closed.

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