Facebook has new custom gender options which it says give people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way. “We collaborated with our Network of Support, a group of leading LGBT advocacy organisations, to offer an extensive list of gender identities that many people use to describe themselves. After a year of offering this feature, we have expanded it to include a free-form field,” the social media giant says. To access the options, Facebook needs to be set to the language ‘US English’ in General Account Settings. The go to your personal page and hit ‘Update Info’. In ‘Contact and Basic Info’ you can enter a custom gender, or pick from one of the options which pop up when you type, then choose which pronoun you prefer – or to be neutral. “You can add up to ten gender terms and also have the ability to control the audience with whom you would like to share your custom gender,” Facebook says. “We recognise that some people face challenges sharing their true gender identity with others, and this setting gives people the ability to express themselves in an authentic way.”
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 4th March 2015 - 12:37pm