Facebook Adds Gay Friendly Relationship Status Options
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Since one of the founders of facebook is gay it is a bit surprising that this took so long. From the San Fransisco Chronicle:
Facebook Inc. is recognizing civil unions and domestic partnerships as relationship statuses for the social network’s members, a move hailed by gay and lesbian advocacy groups as a strong statement of support for same-sex couples.
The social media juggernaut added “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership” to the list of available status options for members in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.
Previously, Facebook, which has an estimated 600 million active members around the world, offered choices ranging from “single” and “in a relationship” to “it’s complicated.”
Or members can chose to hide their relationship status and their sex from their public profiles.
With the new designations, “Facebook sent a clear message in support of gay and lesbian couples to users across the globe,” said Jarrett Barrios, president the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
“When millions of Facebook users see these relationship status options, they gain a greater understanding of the legal inequalities faced by loving and committed same-sex couples in so many states today,” Barrios said in statement e-mailed to The Chronicle.
“Being able to see same-sex couples in civil unions and domestic partnerships who celebrate their relationships no differently than married couples will serve as another reminder that these couples still lack the same legal recognition and protections associated with marriage. Facebook’s noteworthy move also highlights the vast majority of same-sex couples living in states where there are no legal protections whatsoever.”
GLAAD is one of the national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organizations that are part of the Palo Alto firm’s Network of Support, formed in October to fight online bullying.
The groups have been advocating for the relationship status additions since then.
“This has been a highly requested feature from users,” said Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes. “We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.”
Facebook also consulted with its internal teams and external stakeholders about the change. The company plans to monitor reaction and roll the feature out in other countries where members make the request.
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9 Responses and Counting...
The owner of a company can serve whom ever he wants to in his community. What makes this an issue?
I agree that they can do whatever they want. Just letting people know about it, saving my ammo for other things. And by ammo I mean criticism.
People can't stand not sticking their nose in where it's not wanted. What the heck difference does it make what sexual preference someone is? As long as they are not making a pass at you (and if they do you might consider that a compliment that you are a good looking person) then don't worry about it. Let's spend our time worrying about more important things like getting people employed.
Now, now, we are supposed to be toning down the rhetoric. The word "ammo" could cause someone to go on a shooting spree.
That is why I specifically qualified that one Burl
Thanks for the comment and welcome.
In terms of facebook I am inclined to agree with you and Burl. It is a social networking site so it seems natural that such things would be offered. I thought it was worthy of a post since many people may not have been aware of it. It does fit into a larger social and political context of gay rights and the move to normalize homosexuality.
Random: You should register with intensedebate so you show up on the top commentors list.
Testing 1,2,3….
Loud and clear.
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