Polysexual
Attraction to many genders, but not all of them.
Polysexual means attraction to many genders, but not necessarily all of them. The word draws a line that bisexual and pansexual both leave vague, and that line is the point.
Poly comes from the Greek for many. Someone attracted to women, nonbinary people and transmasculine people, but not to men, is describing something real that no other word captures cleanly. Polysexual gives them a way to say it without either overclaiming or listing exceptions.
It is not polyamory. This confusion is constant and worth stating plainly: polysexual is about which genders someone is attracted to, polyamorous is about how many people someone is involved with at once. A polysexual person can be strictly monogamous, and a polyamorous person can be strictly straight.
It overlaps heavily with bisexual, and most polysexual people would not object to being called bi. The choice between them is usually about precision versus recognition: bisexual is understood everywhere, polysexual says more to the people who know the word.
The distinction from pansexual and omnisexual is about completeness. Pan and omni both cover every gender. Poly covers several, deliberately not all, and that is a statement about the shape of someone's attraction rather than a gap in their openness.
The flag is pink, green and blue, and appeared on Tumblr around 2012. The word itself is older and turns up in sexology writing well before the community adopted it.
Polysexual is not polyamorous
These two words share a prefix and nothing else, and the mix-up causes real trouble. Polysexual answers which genders. Polyamorous answers how many partners. Someone can be either, both, or neither, and assuming the second from the first has led to a lot of unwanted propositions.
The community shorthand adds to it, because poly on its own has long meant polyamorous in most spaces. Anyone using poly as a short form of polysexual will usually be misheard, which is why the full word is worth saying.
Saying it well
Say this
- I am polysexual: many genders, not every gender.
- Poly as in polysexual, not polyamorous.
- Attracted to several genders, and men are not among them.
- Polysexual, which sits under the bi umbrella.
Not this
- So you are open to a threesome? (from polysexual alone)
- That is just bisexual
- Which genders exactly? (as a demand)
- Poly (unqualified, if you mean polysexual)
Questions people actually ask
What does polysexual mean?
Attraction to many genders but not necessarily all of them. It names a range that is broad and deliberately incomplete.
Is polysexual the same as polyamorous?
No, and this is the most common mistake. Polysexual is about which genders someone is attracted to. Polyamorous is about having more than one relationship at a time. They are unrelated.
What is the difference between polysexual and pansexual?
Pansexual covers all genders. Polysexual covers several and specifically not all. The difference is whether the range is complete.
Is polysexual under the bisexual umbrella?
Usually yes. Bisexual means attraction to more than one gender, which includes polysexual experience, and many people use both words.
Does polysexual mean excluding a specific gender?
It means the range is not total, and which genders are included is up to the individual. Nobody owes anyone a list.
What is the difference between polysexual and omnisexual?
How many genders. Polysexual means attraction to many genders but not necessarily all. Omnisexual means attraction to all genders, with gender still noticed.