Take That's Howard Donald says he's 'open' to being pansexual – here's what that means

Howard Donald has he said he’s “open” to being pansexual.

The 50-year-old singer, who is married to Katie Halil, revealed his thoughts about his sexuality in an Instagram story.

He explained that the recent change in his thoughts had to do with French singer Christine and The Queens.

"Christine And The Queens, she’s a pansexual, I’ve read,” he said.

Pansexual sounds good. Maybe I should be pansexual.

And let’s face it, women look at other women sometimes and think, 'Ooh yeah, she’s tasty, I fancy her.'

I’ve looked at men before and thought, 'Oh yeah, I fancy him, he’s a good-looking guy. I wish I looked like that.'

You can still be attracted to men and still be attracted to women... as well as women, sorry.

But I’m happy with my wife, anyway. I’m just saying, I’m very open-minded when it comes to that.

What is pansexuality?

Howard isn’t the first celebrity to take on the term. Last year Janelle Monae and Brandon Urie both came out as pansexual. Monáe said:

Being a queer black woman in America - someone who has been in relationships with both men and women - I consider myself to be a free-ass motherf***er.

Later I read about pansexuality and was like, 'Oh, these are things that I identify with too.' I'm open to learning more about who I am.

This is different to 'bisexual', although definitions of the term are expanding quickly. While bisexuality has historically been thought to describe sexual attraction to 'men' and 'women' - and therefore exclude anyone who doesn't fit those descriptors - others have argued that it can describe someone who is attracted to someone who shares their gender identity, and someone that doesn't.

'Pansexuality', on the other hand, explicitly incorporates attraction to non-binary people. It's essentially a catch-all term, but one which has been described as contributing to the erasure of bisexual identities and upholding biphobia.

On the other hand, there are commentators who feel that 'bisexual' as a term is too exclusive and should be broadened out to incorporate those that identify as non-binary or gender non-conforming.

It's a complicated debate from all sides, but it's one which statements from the likes of Monáe, Ure and now Donald has reignited and introduced to new audiences.

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