What is a pansexual?

Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran has announced she is pansexual and in a relationship with a woman.

The politician, who previously only had relationships with men, said she is in a relationship with ex-Lib Dem press officer Rosy Cobb.

She also posted a photograph of herself and Cobb on Twitter, writing: “2020 is a new decade and a new path in my journey. Last year I fell in love with a wonderful woman. Something I’d never even considered before. Now I am just happy. #Pansexual #OutAndProud.”

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“It was really wonderful on the one hand, but also quite surprising for me in how I had identified before,” said Moran in an interview.

“It wasn't really something I had done before or considered before, but sometimes when you meet the right person, it just kind of happens.”

What is pansexuality?

The BBC says pansexual “may describe being attracted to people, regardless of their gender”.

The Sun adds that: “Pansexuals differs from bisexual, who are attracted to either gender, in not recognising gender as part of their attraction at all”.

Earlier this year, The Guardian heralded a “pansexual revolution”. Saying that “rigid definitions of sexuality are on the way out,” it reported that singer Janelle Monáe defined herself as a pansexual and “queer-ass motherf***er,” and Panic at the Disco frontman Brendan Urie and pop star Miley Cyrus both also identify as pansexual.

Moran told Pink News: “Pansexuality, to me, means it doesn't matter about the physical attributions of the person you fall in love with, it's about the person themselves.

“It doesn't matter if they're a man or a woman or gender non-conforming, it doesn't matter if they identify as gay or not.

“In the end, these are all things that don't matter - the thing that matters is the person, and that you love the person.”

However, she added that parliament is a “weird, backwards place” on such issues. “I don't know if there's any other [MPs] who would identify as pansexual, and not that many who identify as bisexual,” she said.

“There are a few women who are brilliant role models who have come out in their lesbian relationships.”

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