The portrayals of pansexuality in the media reflect existing societal attitudes towards pansexuality and current media portrayals. Although pansexual characters are not often characters in mass media, they have appeared in various films, TV series, literature, video games, graphic art, and webcomics, sometimes embodying certain tropes in cinema and fantasy. Musicians, actors, and other public personalities have also, in recent years, come out as pansexual, and are focused on with this page.
Pansexual people have a sexual, romantic or emotional attraction towards people regardless of their biological sex or gender identity. [1] [2] While pansexuality is at times viewed as a sexual orientation in its own right, at other times it is viewed as a branch of bisexuality, to indicate an alternative sexual identity. [2] [3] [4]
For more information about fictional characters in other parts of the LGBTQ community, see the pages about intersex, non-binary, and gay characters in fiction, or about media portrayal of bisexual, lesbian, asexual, and transgender people.
Animated series such as Cardcaptor Sakura , American Dad! , Rick and Morty , OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes , Big Mouth , S.A.L.E.M.: The Secret Archive of Legends, Enchantments, and Monsters, and gen:LOCK have featured pansexual characters.
In February 2001, the creators of Cardcaptor Sakura (1998–2000) and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (2018), and the associated manga with each series, stated that one of the protagonists, Sakura Kinomoto, did not see gender as a barrier for her romantic attraction because she has a "desire to befriend everyone she meets." [5] [6] As such, some have described her as bisexual. [7] She confesses she has a crush on a beautiful female teacher, Kaho Mizuki, with the dubbed version of the anime removing many of these themes. [8] [9] [lower-alpha 1] Sakura has a crush on Yukito/Yue and later begins a relationship with Syaoran Li. [6] [10] [11]
In 2010, one of the protagonists of American Dad! (2005–Present), Roger, was referred to by the show's creators as "omnisexual". [12] Roger's personas have become a major plot device, with his myriad alter egos frequently being the subject or facilitator of an episode's main story or subplot. This also helps to amplify his pansexuality and androgynous nature, which varies dependent on the plot situation and persona he has adopted. Aside from catalyzing the plot or subplot with his various personas, and despite his increasingly evident self-interest, he often serves to counsel the show's main characters, by humorously affirming or bluntly disregarding their opinions.
On July 10, 2015, at Comic Con, Justin Roiland, the creator of Rick and Morty (2013–Present), described the character Rick Sanchez as pansexual while voice actor Ryan Ridley described Rick as "gay". [13] His pansexuality was criticized by Nerdist as translating to nothing more than a "planet-wide orgy", a leap from "anything viewers are expected to digest as sincere", and an indication that pop culture is not taking pansexuality seriously while using stereotypes. [14] His character was further criticized for thriving on "traditional masculinity" like Lando Calrissian and Wade Wilson of Deadpool. [14]
In July 2018, Caroline Cao of IndieWire asserted that Rose Quartz, in Steven Universe (2013-2019) and Steven Universe Future (2019-2020), was coded as pansexual because she "experiments with romances with Pearl and human men and women alike." [15]
In August 2019, in response to a fan, Ian Jones-Quartey, creator of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes (2017-2019), an all-ages animation, confirmed Lord Boxman, the founder and CEO of Boxmore, who is obsessed with destroying the plaza and a villain of the series, [16] as pansexual. [17] It was later confirmed that Boxman had feelings for his former loving partner in the past, Professor Venomous. [18] [19] On October 13, 2020, Jones-Quartey said that Venomous and Boxman were married at the end of the series. [20]
On October 6, 2019, the Season 3 episode of Big Mouth (2017–Present), "Rankings", aired on Netflix. It introduced a new character at Bridgeton Middle School, Ali, who is openly pansexual. However, Ali's explanation of her pansexuality, as compared to bisexuality, was criticzed by various LGBTQ people on social media as not understanding the differences between pansexuality and bisexuality, engaging in negative stereotypes in the process. [21] [22] [23] On October 8, the co-creator of Big Mouth, Andrew Goldberg, apologized on behalf himself and the other creators of the show (Nick Kroll, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin), on Twitter, saying they missed the mark, saying it is challenging and that they "could have done better". He also thanked the "trans, pan, and bi communities" for opening their eyes about these issues, adding they are listening, looking "forward to delving into all of this in future seasons." [21] [22] [23] This statement was praised by Bustle as a step "in the right direction". [24] In later episodes, Ali begins dating a quiet female student named Samira.
On October 16, 2020, the official Twitter account of the upcoming animated web series, S.A.L.E.M.: The Secret Archive of Legends, Enchantments, and Monsters, confirmed that the show's protagonist, Salem, a non-binary cryptid, is pansexual. [25]
On the November 25, 2021 episode of gen:LOCK , Val/entina Romanyszyn is revealed to be pansexual. Val is also genderfluid, going by the name "Val" when male-presenting and "Valentina" when female-presenting. [26] Romanyszyn is voiced by Asia Kate Dillon, who is a pansexual and non-binary actress, and the character was written as genderfluid, but is feminine-presenting, altering their gender performance several times. [27] In September 2017, when accepting a Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award, Dillon openly discussed their non-binary identity, stating that they were grateful to be the first non-binary actor to "play a non-binary identified character on a major television show" and noted that they are "out as non-binary, trans, and pansexual." [28] [29]
In November 2015, Tim Miller, director of Deadpool (2016), said that Wade Wilson was pansexual. [30] [31] [32] However, this is never explicitly portrayed on-screen, with the character's interest in men being used as the source of humor. [33] [34] [35] Megan Townsend of GLAAD criticized the representation, noting that most of the film's references to this "are in service of proving how outrageous his character is." [36] In 2013, a Deadpool writer, Gerry Duggan, said that Deadpool was attracted to "anything with a pulse" while in 2015, Gail Simone, another writer for the films, tweeted that she "always thought of Deadpool as pansexual." [37] This prompted one fan to write an essay about it, sending it to the creator of Deadpool, Fabian Nicieza, who said that Deadpool was created to be fluid, in general, conflating "sexuality and sex", bemoaning questions about the sexuality of Deadpool. [37] [lower-alpha 2] S.E. Fleenor of Syfy argued that in the comics Deadpool engages "in pansexual attraction" toward Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Thor, even though he only has "sexual relationships... in the comics...[and] films... [with] women" or people who present as women. [37] [lower-alpha 3] Deadpool's gender identity was also reflected in the comics. [38]
In May 2018, one of the co-writers of Solo: A Star Wars Story , Jonathan Kasdan, stated that Lando Calrissian, who appeared in the film and other Star Wars films, [lower-alpha 4] was pansexual, adding that there is a "fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee's [portrayal of Lando's] sexuality," while admitting that he would have liked to get a "more explicitly LGBT character into this movie." [39] [14] [40] He further said that Lando "doesn't make any hard and fast rules" when it comes to his sexual attractions. Some took this to be a "deeply regressive" move by suggesting this to fans without delivering on it, a "piss-poor shot at representation" which reinforces stereotypes, while others said that the fact that Lando "could be pansexual is more than just groundbreaking for mainstream sci-fi films." [41] [42] [43] Donald Glover (who voiced Lando in the films Solo and The Rise of Skywalker) supported Kasdan's interpretation, describing Lando as a character who "doesn't have hard and fast boundaries about everything" when it comes to sexual attraction. [44] Others stated that Lando's pansexuality is never seen on screen. [37]
On February 15, 2020, the romantic comedy television film The Thing About Harry premiered on Hulu and Freeform. In one scene, Sam learns that his former school enemy and new love interest, Harry, is pansexual. [45] The director of the film, Peter Paige told Variety that he loves the "notion of pansexuality not being about male or female but about 'I am looking for the soul that speaks to me no matter what body it comes in'" and thought that this was lovely enough that he "instantly reevaluate[d] the character of Harry." [46] He also said that this the way the Millennial generation "talks about sexuality" is new and opened up "the landscape of the storytelling." Ty Gamble-Eddington, a GLAAD Campus Ambassador, positively reviewed the film, saying it is "all too rare to see a character who is pansexual" in television and film, especially having a character who uses the word, "pansexual". [47] Gamble-Eddington also noted the film discusses "the experience of fluidity" that people have when they "as they grow into their identity" and praised Harry's character for breaking the "stereotypical characterization of queer men in media."
In August 2008, Alan Ball told GLAAD that his new series True Blood would have "pansexual vampires" because, in his mind, for vampires "feeding and sexuality are combined." [48] [49] The series was renewed in September 2008. [50]
On June 24, 2011, the creator of Torchwood , Russell T. Davies, said that he considered the time-traveling captain, Jack Harkness, in Doctor Who and Torchwood "omnisexual and not just gay" and added that the character was not "calmed down, or censored, or compromised in any way." [51] Harkness is said to flirt "with anything that moved" as he has relationships with women, men, and non-humans. [40] [52]
On March 17, 2014, Sophia, in the fifth episode of Star-Crossed , came out as a "pansexual alien gal" who has a huge crush on a human girl. [53] Her voice actor, Brina Palencia confirmed this on a tweet the following day. [54]
In a March 2015 Season 1 episode, "Honeymoon", of Schitt's Creek , David Rose came out as pansexual. [55] Daniel Levy, who plays the character, called it a "special thing" and said that for some people his character is a point of entry toward understanding homosexuality and pansexuality. [56] His character has relationships with a woman named Stevie Budd [lower-alpha 5] and a man named Patrick "Pat" Brewer, the latter who becomes his fiance. [57] [58] [59] The show was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. [60] While Sarah Kate Ellis, the President and CEO of GLAAD, praised the show for "expanding representation of the spectrum of idenities within the LGBTQ community," [61] saying that other creators should model this, others criticized the show for making a misstep when it came to pansexuality, like Big Mouth in describing a trans man, adding that "pop culture still has a way to go when it comes to properly representing gender identity." [21]
One review in Flare noted that Rose joined, in January 2016, pansexual characters in Game of Thrones , Penny Dreadful , Halt and Catch Fire , Transparent , Orange Is the New Black , House of Cards , Teen Wolf , Scream Queens , Broad City , How to Get Away with Murder , American Horror Story: Hotel , Sense8 , and Other Space , calling it "about time" that pansexual characters get a turn to tell their stories, with pansexuality "treated as merely part of somebody's story, not the story." [62] Articles in NewNowNext, The Independent , and on GLAAD's blog confirmed this assessment. [63] [64] [65]
In June 2015, YouTube personality and television personality, Jazz Jennings, known for the reality show I Am Jazz (2015–Present) came out as pansexual. She defined the word as meaning that "you are attracted to anyone, no matter their sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, everything," saying that sometimes she is attracted to girls and other times she is attracted to boys and would date anyone. [28] [66] She later won GLAAD Media Awards for the show I Am Jazz. [67] She later asserted her pansexuality in a January 2018 tweet, saying her pansexuality means she is "attracted to people at a level that surpasses gender identity or sexual orientation." [68] [69]
In August 2017, Molly Bernard who portrays Lauren in the comedy-drama, Younger , said that her character is "a fluid, pansexual female" who identifies as a woman, but is "not straight and...not gay," meaning she is genderfluid instead, with no preference for male or female partners. [70] When asked about bisexuals and pansexuals in TV, Bernard argued that visibility "is exceedingly important" and praised her character as being a "role model for folks" while calling her character a "full, driven, fucking strong woman" and praising the show as "empowering." However, her pansexuality is not explicitly stated in the show. [71]
The first season of Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It on Netflix in November 2017 starred Nola Darling as a "pansexual, polyamorous woman living in Brooklyn." [72] The show's second, and last season, had Nola beginning a new relationship with a single mom named Opal. [73]
In October 2018, GLAAD praised Legacies (on The CW) and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (on Netflix) which both featured pansexual characters: Jozie and Ambrose. [74] The voice actor of Ambrose, Chance Perdomo, later confirmed that Ambrose is pansexual and an "ethnic minority" but does not make a "big fuss about it" in the show, but integrate it into his character, his relationships, and the story itself. [75] Gizmodo later described that this comes across onscreen through "flirtation, sexual activity, and his relationships" and was part of the promotion of the show by Netflix, with Adeline Rudolph, voicing Agatha in the show, even proposing that "all witches and warlocks" in the show are pansexual. [76] This was crititized by Gizmodo as the show doing a "poor job" of showing this to be the case.
In September 2019, Megan Townsend of GLAAD wrote that Callie Torres of Grey's Anatomy, who "remains cited as the longest running LGBTQ character on television," opened the doors for a "wave of outstanding bi and pansexual characters who came after her." [77]
In November 2014, the game Dragon Age: Inquisition premiered. It included Iron Bull, a pansexual man who would "happily sleep with all genders and races" and has various romance scenes in the game. [78] In January 2015, the game was honored by GLAAD with an award for special recognition for LGBT characters like Iron Bull and Josephine, the latter who is bisexual. [79]
In February 2017, Night in the Woods premiered. In the game, Mae identifies as pansexual, even though there are not any "romantic moments" involving her in the series, unlike other characters. [80]
From September 2018 to December 2019, episodic graphic adventure game Life Is Strange 2 was released. One of the characters, Finn, was confirmed as pansexual in one of the storylines. [81]
In January 2021, it was revealed that Jack from the game Mass Effect 2 was meant to pansexual but objections from Fox News and other media outlets caused them to change their minds. [82] Some noted that her dialogue stated this, with former BioWare writer Brian Kindregan stating that she was "essentially pansexual for most of the development of that romance." [83] [84]
There are various pansexual musicians. This includes American singer-songwriter Janelle Monáe, American pop singer Miley Cyrus, and Brendon Urie, frontman for the music project, Panic! at the Disco.
In August 2012, the rapper Angel Haze said that "love is boundary-less" and that he would be with anyone who would make him laugh. [85] [86] She clarified in November 2013 that to be pansexual, in her words, means to "want love" and to have "a connection with anyone you can find it with." [87] [88] [89] She later said that she is "whatever I am when I am it" when asked if she was gay and may have dated Ireland Baldwin in the past. [68] [90] In January 2015, she was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in the Outstanding Music Artist category for her record, Dirty Gold . [79]
In May 2015, Miley Cyrus said, in an Instagram post, that nothing would define her, that she is "Free to be EVERYTHING!!!!" [91] [87] In October 2015, she came out as pansexual but said that she is "not in a relationship" despite the fact she occasionally goes on dates. [92] In October 2016, Cyrus said that she does not "relate to what people would say defines a girl or a boy." [93]
In April 2018, Monáe described herself as "a free-ass motherfucker" who initially identified as bisexual but identified more with pansexuality. [87] [94] Her album, Dirty Computer was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. [95] Some said that Monáe coming out as pansexual was huge, giving them a "role model" to look up to, saying she helped "launch pansexual representation to new heights." [96]
Some reviewers pointed to other pansexual singers like Bella Thorne, Demi Lovato (who identifies as "sexually fluid"), Cara Delevingne, Christine and the Queens, Brooke Candy, Amandla Stenberg, and Courtney Act. [97] [31] [32] [68]
In 2017, former librarian Kelly Jensen mentioned Riley Redgate's Seven Ways We Lie (2016), Becky Albertalli's The Upside of Unrequited (2017), and Brandy Colbert's Little & Lion (2017) as examples of young adult fiction with outwardly pansexual characters. [98]
In 2020, reference librarian Elliott Riley, talked about books with pansexual protagonists, hoping that more books with pansexual protagonists "will be published in the future." [99] This includes books by M. Hollis' The Melody of You and Me (2017), Mina Waheed's Soft on Soft (2018), Riley Redgate's Final Draft (2018), Britta Lundin's Ship It (2018), and Anna Zabo's Reverb (2019).
This section needs expansionwith: more comics with pansexual characters. You can help by adding to it.(December 2021) |
In 1962, Loki Laufeyson first appeared and was later confirmed to be pansexual. [100]
LandoCalrissian is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He is introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as a friend of Han Solo and the administrator of Cloud City on the planet Bespin. Prior to the events of the film, Lando made a career as a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, and businessman, and was the owner of the Millennium Falcon until losing the ship to Han in a bet. In the film, when Cloud City is threatened by the Galactic Empire, Lando reluctantly betrays Han to Darth Vader, but later helps Han's friends escape from the Empire. In Return of the Jedi (1983), after becoming a general in the Rebel Alliance, Lando helps rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and leads the attack on the second Death Star.
Pansexuality is sexual, romantic, or emotional attraction towards people of all genders, or regardless of their sex or gender identity. Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others.
LGBT representation in children's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.
The portrayals of bisexuality in the media reflect societal attitudes towards bisexuality in the existing media portrayals. Throughout history, numerous bisexual characters have appeared in television series, including cartoons, anime, video games and web series, along with literature, comics, radio, and other mediums.
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card is a Japanese shōjo manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. It is a sequel to Clamp's manga Cardcaptor Sakura and focuses on Sakura Kinomoto in junior high school. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Nakayoshi magazine between the July 2016 and January 2024 issues, with the chapters being collected in 16 tankōbon volumes. A 22-episode anime television series adaptation produced by Madhouse, featuring the cast and staff from the original series, aired from January to June 2018, which loosely adapts the first 24 chapters.
In anime and manga, the term "LGBTQ themes" includes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender material. Outside Japan, anime generally refers to a specific Japanese-style of animation, but the word anime is used by the Japanese themselves to broadly describe all forms of animated media there. According to Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin, the fluid state of animation allows flexibility of animated characters to perform multiple roles at once. Manga genres that focus on same-sex intimacy and relationships resulted from fan work that depicted relationships between two same-sex characters. This includes characters who express their gender and sexuality outside of hetero-normative boundaries. There are also multiple sub genres that target specific consumers and themes: yaoi, yuri, shoujo-ai, shonen-ai, bara, etc. LGBT-related manga found its origins from fans who created an "alternative universe" in which they paired their favorite characters together. Many of the earliest works that contained LGBT themes were found in works by dōjinshi who has specifically written content outside the regular industry. The rise of yaoi and yuri was also slowed due to censorship laws in Japan that make it extremely hard for Japanese manga artists ("mangakas") and others to create work that is LGBT themed. Anime that contained LGBTQ content was changed to meet international standards. However, publishing companies continued to expand their repertoire to include yuri and yaoi, and conventions were created to form a community and culture for fans of this work.
The depiction of LGBTQ characters in Western animated series in the 2000s changed significantly from the previous decade. This included series such as Queer Duck, the first animated TV series with homosexuality as a predominant theme, The Boondocks, American Dad, bro'Town, W.I.T.C.H., The Venture Bros., Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World, Moral Orel, Lizzy the Lezzy, and many others would include LGBTQ characters.
The depiction of LGBTQ characters in animated series in the 2010s changed significantly from the previous decade; especially in Western animation. This included Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe which aired on Cartoon Network and praised for going "above and beyond when it comes to inclusive storytelling" The 2010s also brought with it shows such as Adventure Time, The Legend of Korra, BoJack Horseman, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Bravest Knight, among others, all of which had strong LGBTQ characters. Representation of LGBTQ characters would only continue to grow in the 2020s.
In the 2020s, LGBTQ representation in animated series and animated films became more pronounced than it had in the 2010s, or 2000s when it came to Western animation. This included series like The Owl House, Harley Quinn, Adventure Time: Distant Lands, RWBY, and Dead End: Paranormal Park. Series like She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Steven Universe Future, The Hollow, and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, which had various LGBTQ characters, came to an end in 2020, and Gen:Lock came to an end in 2021. An upcoming season of Hazbin Hotel was hinted at, while an animated adaption of Lumberjanes was in development.
Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.
Cartoon Network, an American TV channel which launched in 1992, and Adult Swim, its adult-oriented nighttime programming block which launched in 2001, has regularly featured lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters in its programming.
This article features the history of the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) characters in animated productions under The Walt Disney Company, including films from the studios Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, and programming from the Disney Branded Television channels as well as the streaming service Disney+. From 1983 onward, Disney struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content often included LGBTQ stereotypes or the content was censored in series such as Blazing Dragons. Some creators have also criticized Disney studio executives of cutting LGBTQ scenes from their shows in the past, or criticized that their shows were not seen as part of the "Disney brand", like The Owl House.