Facebook announced Thursday that it is now allowing users to select a custom gender for their Facebook profile. The new initiative was announced by the Facebook Diversity program.
Previously, Facebook only allowed users to pick Male or Female. But they’ve now opened up the options to reflect the needs of the online transgender community.
As of Thursday morning, users are now given an option for custom gender.
Along with a menu that allows them to fully customize which pronouns Facebook refers to you as.
The settings also allow users to toggle whether or not their gender change appears on their timeline.
A user can also toggle what kinds of users can see their gender.
This will open up a menu where you can select up to ten gender definitions. Among these are genders such as “cisgender,” “transgender” and “intersex,” as well as many other nuanced options.
Beyond that, we are now allowing people to select a “neutral” pronoun on the site. For those not comfortable identifying as traditionally male or female, there is now an option to be referred to as “they/their/them.”
The change initially covers Facebook’s 159 million monthly users in the United States.
The company plans to take the initiative to a global level after working with global activists to come up with terms appropriate in other countries.