Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook has added the ability for users
to designate their relationship status as "in a civil union" or
"in a domestic partnership," after consultation with leading groups
that represent the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities,
the Huffington Post reported. "This has been a highly requested feature
from users," said Facebook’s Andrew Noyes, manager of public policy
communications. "We want to provide options for people to genuinely and
authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook."
The new statuses
will become available in countries including the U.S., U.K., Canada, France and
Australia, which have created such legal arrangements.
Other options offered by
Facebook include single, in a relationship, married, engaged, "it’s
complicated," in an open relationship, widowed, separated and divorced.
"As
LGBT people face a patchwork of relationship recognition laws, this gives
people more tools to adequately describe their relationship," said Michael
Cole-Schwartz, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign.
"Facebook has
been a company that has tried to be inclusive of the LGBT community and this
just one sign of it."
Related Links:
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(Huffington Post)
