The number one social media site, Facebook Inc, is now allowing users of its online social network identify themselves as a gender other than male and female.
Facebook announced on Thursday, the user profile for Facebook members in the United States now includes a customizable category among the gender types that users have the option to select from.
For people who select that option, they can select up to 50 gender identifications, including "transgender," "intersex" and "fluid."
Facebook said it worked with a leading group of gay and transgender advocacy organizations to come up with the wide selection of identity options.
Until today, Facebook's 1.23 billion users could only select male or female for their genders type, which Facebook requires users to state in their profiles. Users of rival Google Inc's Google+ social network already had an "other" option for their gender choices.
Facebook said one of the options users will have is that they can control the audience who can view a custom choice, noting the challenges that some people may face in publicly sharing their gender identity.
Facebook members will also have the option to choose the personal pronoun to which they are referred publicly. A message on Facebook might now invite a user's friend to write a birthday message on "their" wall, instead of "his" or "her" wall.
"We want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self," Facebook said.
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