Pan on Campus: Biscuit Interviews Pansexuality Advocate Elle Long
Pansexuality may be as old as the hills, but the pansexual movement is still young, and that means that it’s still a little mysterious to outsiders. We’re natural allies, and we’re nosy, too, so we caught up with advocate Elle Long to get the skinny on what’s happening in pan activism right now.
Hi Elle! First of all, tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do. How long have you been involved in pansexual activism and advocacy? What sort of things do you get up to as an advocate?
I am a junior at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, majoring in Political Science and Law, minoring in Ethnic Studies. I’m involved with the Speech and Debate team for the school but that’s about as sporty as I get!
My main focus in advocacy for pansexuality has been education and it started when I came… Continue reading
Eight Myths About Pansexuality, Debunked
It’s hard to deny that ignorances and misunderstandings about pansexuals exist, and the bisexual community is not immune – despite facing plenty of myths of our own. Myths around bisexuality and pansexuality overlap, but pansexuality also attracts some unique prejudices. It’s time to put them all to bed, starting with eight of the most common panphobic myths.
MYTH: Pansexual is a new term
FACT: We’ve been seeing the word pansexual since at least 1924. It’s shifted in meaning since it was coined, of course, just like the words ‘bisexual’, ‘homosexual’ and even ‘furniture’, ‘girl’ and ‘manufacture’. That’s just how language works.
It was first used by contemporary critics of Freud such as Otto Rank and Wilhelm Reich in derision, as an ironic validation of Freud’s suggestion that “that the sex instinct plays the primary part in all human activity”; or that our libidos either directly or indirectly, drive… Continue reading
You didn't hear it from us (9/03/2015)
Here’s a round-up of some of the news, blogs posts and comment we missed last week.
- The Australian Daily Telegraph discovered pansexuality and misdefined bisexuality.
- Hundreds of British troops officially declared their queerness on their military records but hundreds more have chosen to keep quiet, citing bullying from colleagues.
- M&S decided you weren’t allowed to use the word ‘gay’ when ordering a gift, then swiftly reversed the decision.
- The Daily Dot discussed sexual fluidity among men.
- Misogyny in the queer community got the everydayfeminism treatment.
- LadyGeekGirl used The 100 to dissect sexuality in dystopian fiction.
- Russell Tovey made some… interesting remarks about effeminate gay men. Patrick Strudwick wrote for Buzzfeed in defence of ‘prancing’ queers…
- In the week that Leonard Nimoy sadly passed away, Mike S wrote an emotional essay for bisexual.org on how Nimoy taught him how to fit in.
- Autostraddle advised us… Continue reading