A 'Bachelorette' star came out as pansexual. Here's what that means, and why it's different from being bisexual.
- "The Bachelorette Australia" season 5 star, Angie Kent, came out as pansexual on September 9 during a live radio interview.
- Being pansexual means someone is attracted to people of all genders.
- While she has never dated people who weren't men, Kent said she has always been attracted to "a person, not the gender."
Angie Kent, star of "The Bachelorette Australia" season 5, has opened up about her recent breakup with contestant Carlin Sterritt. And, in doing so, she came out as pansexual.
Sterritt was the contestant Kent chose to be with at the end of the dating show, which aired in 2019. Speaking on The Kyle and Jackie O Show this week, Kent said they broke up because of Sterritt's "insecurity issues" around her friendships with other contestants after the show.
Looking ahead at single life, Kent said she needs a break after "dating 20 blokes" at once, adding that she isn't necessarily looking to date a man because she "falls in love with a person, not the gender."
"I've always said since I was younger, I fall in love with a soul rather than a gender," Kent said.
"That would make you pansexual then?" Jackie O said, to which Kent replied: "Yeah, there you go."
While she has only ever dated men, Kent said she would be open to dating women, and she has kissed women in the past, joking: "Yeah of course I have, it's the thing to do back on the Sunshine Coast! There's nothing else to do."
It's possible to identify as both pansexual and bisexual, but they don't mean the same thing
Pansexual comes from the Greek prefix "pan," meaning all. Pansexual identity recognizes the wide breadth of gender identities that exist, including non-binary people.
Contrary to popular belief, pansexuality and bisexuality are different identities, as bisexuality refers to a person being attracted to their same gender as well as other gender identities. However, this doesn't necessarily mean a bisexual person is attracted to all genders.
For example, a person who identifies as a bisexual woman can be attracted to non-binary people and other women but maybe not men. A pansexual woman like Kent is attracted to people of all genders.
A person who is bisexual can identify as pansexual as well if they happen to be attracted to people of all genders — but while the two can overlap, this doesn't necessarily mean these identities always overlap.
Pansexual people have to deal with 'pan-erasure,' especially those like Kent who have not been in a 'queer' relationship
Like bisexual people, people who identify as pansexual deal with a specific kind of discrimination for not fully identifying as "straight" or "gay" oftentimes called "pan-erasure" or "bi-erasure."
Bi-erasure, or the erasure of bisexual identity through belittling comments and other forms of discrimination, comes from the idea that people cannot be attracted to people of multiple genders. It has even been linked to worse mental health and less fulfilling sex for bisexual people.
Women like Kent in particular who are attracted to different genders but have only been with men face ridicule and comments like "they aren't actually queer" or attracted to people of other genders.
These kinds of comments have kept other celebrities like Rosario Dawson from coming out or claiming queerness until later in life.
Veronica Chin Hing, a psychotherapist and sexologist with NYC Therapy + Wellness, previously told Insider that the feeling of not being "queer enough" to claim an LGBTQ identity is a common experience for many of her clients.
"There can be fear of judgment around being perceived as 'straight-passing,' inauthentic, or inexperienced," Chin Hing said.
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