Polysexual can be described as the sexual attraction to many genders, but not necessarily all. This means that a polysexual individual can be attracted to any number of genders. People who identify as polysexual often use that word because it suggests a greater variety of sexual orientations than traditional gender binaries of male and female, or hetero- and homosexual. Each person will have their own specific preferences when it comes to who they are attracted to. They may or may not have a preference and experience a difference between genders, and gender may or may not be a factor in their attraction. People who are polysexual may experience strong preferences or leans for varied periods of time.
History[]
Using the Greek prefix poly- meaning ‘many’, the term polysexual first appeared in the late 1920s. Before it gained traction as a recognised sexuality, it was used to refer to the practice of having (or being open to having) more than one romantic and/or sexual relationship. As the term became established and widely recognised in the last few decades, that conflation became outdated as polysexuals are now understood to be entirely distinct from polyamorous individuals. In the 2010s polysexuality gets redefined as a label for attraction to multiple genders but not all genders, based on different definitions of bisexuality. Unfortunately, there is limited media representation when it comes to polysexuality, perhaps due to a lack of widespread understanding of its meaning.
Flag[]
The polysexual flag has three stripes, pink, representing attraction to women, green, representing attraction to non-binary people, and blue, representing attraction to men. The flag was created by user Samlin on Tumblr in 2012, posting said design to the blog fuckyeahpolysexuality.