This Video Of Bella Thorne Opening Up About Being Pansexual Is So Important
I wouldn't call Bella Thorne subtle. Besides her acting roles, the actress is arguably known for her fiery red locks, colorful makeup, and brave, bold personality. She's currently promoting her new book Life of a Wannabe Mogul: Mental Disarray, which covers everything from her time on Disney Channel to her mental health journey. She recently stopped by ABC News to speak about the book and all of its intricacies and, during the interview, she touched on her sexuality. The video of Bella Thorne opening up about being pansexual is important for so many reasons, the least of which is letting fans and followers know it's OK if you are confused, unclear, or just still learning about your own sexual identity.
Not that it's anyone's business but, in 2016, fans asked Thorne how she sexually identifies via Twitter. One person tagged her asking, "are you bisexual?" to which she simply responded, "yes." However, in her new sit down with ABC News, Thorne revealed that she recently learned she actually identifies as pansexual. Loud and clear for the people in the back: there is a difference. "I realized recently I'm actually pansexual, I didn't know that," Thorne said. "Somebody explained to me very thoroughly what that is, and I am pan."
Thorne broke it down like this: "You like beings. You like what you like. It doesn't have to be a girl or a guy, or, ya know, a he, a she, a they or this or that. It's literally you just like a personality. You just like a being."
Yup. Checks out.
Alexandra Bolles is the Associate Director of Campaigns and Public Engagement at GLAAD, an American non-governmental media monitoring organization founded by LGBT people, who spoke with Elite Daily previously about the various sexuality terms and definitions out there. About pansexuality, she explained it's "the attraction to all genders, and/or the attraction to people regardless of gender."
Understandably, people who have done less of a deep dive into sexual fluidity or aren't as versed in the language might confuse it for bisexuality. However, here is where the two differ: where pansexuality is an attraction to people regardless of gender, bisexuality refers to the attraction to more than one gender.
Certified gender and sex specialist Rena McDaniel previously told Elite Daily:
A harmful misconception is that bisexuality reinforces the gender binary, but in reality, bisexual people come in all genders, as do the people they love. Bisexual, pansexual, fluid people, and more belong to the same community... [of] anyone who is attracted to more than one gender.
*Takes notes.*
During her interview, Thorne also stated, "I like sexy. I love skin. I love seeing skin ... I like sexy girls, I like sexy guys, I like sexy in general."
Girl, yes. I relate.
Based on the rest of Thorne's interview, it seems like fans will have the opportunity to get to know her even more intimately by reading her book. However, if you want to hear her speak about pansexuality firsthand, you can scrub to the 4:35 timestamp in her kickass interview below.
Thank you for helping normalize a very normal thing, Bella!
