December 8 marks Pansexual Pride Day, a day to celebrate those who – according to the Dictionary – are “not limited in sexual choice with regard to biological sex, gender, or gender identity”. It’s also a reminder to tackle the harmful myths and stereotypes that continue to permeate pansexual people and often result in them feeling ostracised from society and the wider LGBTQ+ community. Here, we celebrate 15 celebrities who are proudly flying the pansexual flag and inspiring a whole new generation of LGBTQ+ youth in the process.
Angel Haze
Pronouns: They/Them
The US rapper and singer has received acclaim for exploring themes such as homophobia, rape culture, racism, mental illness, addiction, depression and anorexia in their music. Haze, who identifies as both pansexual and agender, told Out in 2014: “People talking about me, like, ‘I’m glad there’s an actual woman of color representing queerness and pansexuality, someone who is like me in the spotlight.’ You don’t want to have so many goddamned people who are exactly the same that people who are inherently different aren’t connected to anything.”
Asia Kate Dillon
Pronouns: They/Them
In an interview with the Huffington Post in 2017, Dillon shared: “From the time I came to understand sex and sexual orientation, and all of that, I’ve identified as pansexual and I’ve always felt like I had the spiritual, emotional, physical capability of being attracted to any gender.” The actor is best known for their role on the Showtime drama Billions as Taylor Mason, who made history as the first ever non-binary main character on US television.
Bob the Drag Queen
Pronouns: He/Him, She/Her
“For the record I identify as pansexual and non binary,” Bob tweeted in 2019, before confirming he prefers “binary pronouns” such as “he/him/his/she/her/hers”. The comedian memorably won the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, becoming one of the most beloved contestants in the process, before starring alongside fellow alum Shangela and Eureka O’Hara in the Emmy-nominated HBO series, We’re Here.
Bella Thorne
Pronouns: She/Her
Thorne, who rose to fame with her role as CeCe Jones on Disney Channel’s Shake It Up, initially came out as bisexual on Twitter. In 2019, however, the star said she came to the realisation that she identifies as pansexual, telling Good Morning America: “You like what you like. Doesn’t have to be a girl, or a guy, or … you know, a he, a she, a this, or that. It’s literally, you like personality, like you just like a being.” Thorne is also known for starring in The DUFF (2015), The Babysitter series (2017-2020) and Assassination Nation (2018).
Demi Lovato
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them
Since rising to prominence on Disney Channel’s smash hit musical Camp Rock (2018), Lovato has become one of the world’s biggest artists with hits such as Skyscraper, Heart Attack and Sorry Not Sorry. They spoke about their queerness extensively in the past, but officially disclosed their pansexuality earlier this year in an interview with Joe Rogan. “Yeah, pansexual. I like anything, really,” she said, before joking: “I heard someone call the LGBTQIA+ community the alphabet mafia. That’s it! That’s what I’m going with.”
Emily Hampshire
Pronouns: She/Her
Hampshire discovered her pansexuality during one of Schitt’s Creek’s most iconic scenes, in which David (Dan Levy) tells her character Stevie that he identifies as pansexual with a now-iconic wine-focused metaphor. “When we did that wine scene I had to ask Dan what pansexuality was, I didn’t know at all,” Hampshire told GAY TIMES. “Cut to five years later, definitely pan! I looked at Dan, and I was like ‘What am I?’ I just like a person, and I genuinely don’t care what the equipment is as long as we’re happy. And he was like, ‘Do you watch the show? You’re pan!’” Since starring on Schitt’s Creek, Hampshire has gone on to star in the Stephen King horror Chapelwaite and Prime Video’s supernatural thriller series The Rig.
Janelle Monáe
Pronouns: She/Her/They/Them
The Grammy-nominated singer, rapper and actor came out as pansexual in a Rolling Stone cover story, although admitted that she still identifies as bisexual. After reading about pansexuality, Monáe said she realised: “‘Oh, these are things that I identify with too.’ I’m open to learning more about who I am.” The multi-hyphenate received critical acclaim for her first three studio albums – The ArchAndroid (2010), The Electric Lady (2013) and Dirty Computer (2018) – and performances in films such as Moonlight, Hidden Figures (both 2016) and Harriet (2019).
Jojo Siwa
Pronouns: She/Her
Siwa broke the internet in 2021 when she flew the rainbow flag and came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community. While she initially shared a photo on Twitter wearing a t-shirt with the words “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever.”, the 17-year-old later said she feels comfortable labelling herself as both queer and pansexual. She told People: “Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that’s how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human.” Siwa later competed on the 30th season of Dancing with the Stars, where she broke new ground with the series’ first ever same-sex dancing partnership.
Lady Leshurr
Pronouns: She/Her
The reigning Queen of UK Rap publicly came out as pansexual in a 2018 cover interview with GAY TIMES, making history as one of the first pan females to do so in the process. “It’s more about the connection, the energy and the vibe that people bring around me – that’s what really draws me in,” Leshurr explained of her sexuality. “I’ve never been a person to look at somebody’s appearance and judge them on that. It’s always been about connection and that’s definitely why I identify as pansexual.”
Mae Whitman
Pronouns: She/Her
Best known for roles as Ann Veal on Arrested Development (2004-2013), Amber Holt on Parenthood (2010-2015) and Annie Marks on Good Girls (2018-2021), Whitman identifies as pansexual. While celebrating her fan-favourite lesbian witch character Amity Blight, from Disney Channel’s animated series The Owl House, the actress tweeted: “Being pansexual myself, I wish I had such incredible characters like Amity and Luz in my life when I was growing up. Queer representation is sososo important. Keep it up world!”
Miley Cyrus
Pronouns: She/Her
With 153 million Instagram followers, and countless pop hits, Cyrus is one of the most high profile pansexual stars in the world. The Midnight Sky hitmaker came out to her mother at 14-years-old, admitting on a Facebook Q&A in 2015: “I never want to label myself! I am ready to love anyone that loves me for who I am! I am open.” Cyrus has also stated that she’s “literally open to every single thing that is consenting and doesn’t involve an animal and everyone is of age”.
Rina Sawayama
Pronouns: She/Her
In 2018, the pop sensation – who previously identified as bisexual – came out as pan in an interview with Broadly. “I’ve always written songs about girls,” explained Sawayama. “I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned a guy in my songs, and that’s why I wanted to talk about it.” Her fan-favourite pop anthem, Cherry, tackles the public implications of coming out as pansexual whilst being in a heterosexual couple. “It’s the truth for a lot of bi and pan people – they don’t feel authentically queer when they’re in heterosexual relationships, and that is what the song is about,” she said.
Tess Holliday
Pronouns: She/Her
The model and body-positivity activist spoke candidly about her sexuality for the first time with Nylon in 2019. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship to my own queerness, and I think the word pansexual speaks to me more than bi does,” she shared. At the time, the 36-year-old – who created #EffYourBeautyStandards, one of the most popular hashtags of all time – said she felt “a sense of relief” when she came to terms with her pansexuality. “A lot of the things that I felt when I was younger make sense,” Holliday added. “A lot of the relationships that I had make sense.”
Tove Lo
Pronouns: She/Her
“I’m a pansexual woman married to a straight man,” the Swedish pop sensation said when she announced her fifth studio album, Dirt Femme. Lo’s momentous decade-long career includes a quintuple platinum sleeper hit in Habits (Stay High), Grammy and Golden Globe Award nominations and collaborations with artists such as Charli XCX, Nick Jonas, Lorde, Ellie Goulding and Duran Duran. She is best known for pop anthems such as Talking Body, Disco Tits and 2 Die 4. In a conversation for PAPER with Troye Sivan, she further explained that she’s “grateful” to be part of the LGBTQ+ community and, “as a pansexual in a straight marriage, I feel like I can move between worlds.”
Yungblud
Pronouns: He/They
Yungblud, who topped the UK charts with the release of his sophomore album Weird!, has opened up about his pansexuality and polyamory in several interviews over the past year. He recently told Hunger Magazine that he discovered his sexuality from the “magazines and the internet,” adding: “It doesn’t matter what genitalia you’ve got or what you identify as, if I love you, I love you and that’s it, and that’s (something) I’ve struggled with my whole life, because I didn’t know what I was.”
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