#——-

Hey, just a reminder, while I get the reservations people might have with the terms, I do use pan as an identifier for myself. It’s the label I internalized as a closeted adolescent and it’s what I felt best fit me based on the descriptions I was given within my IRL microcommunity.

I recognize that bisexual and pansexual are synonyms. I do not, and have never thought, that bisexual excludes trans people, and I have never said the phrase “hearts not parts” (honestly never HEARD that phrase until the internet). I realize, however, that some people may still be uncomfortable following me knowing I identify as pan. And that’s fine! I understand; and it won’t hurt my feelings!

Having kept myself shoved in the closet for over a decade (and STILL largely in the closet outside of friends and immediate family), I don’t feel comfortable forcing myself to change one of the things that got me through years and years of internal and external homophobia.