Facebook expands gender options for user profiles

Facebook recognizes that not everybody identifies themselves simply as a "male" or "female," so it's added the ability for users to identify themselves with a range of labels, including "other."

People can now select a custom gender identification, the pronoun they would like to be referred to publicly, and who can see their gender selection, Facebook announced Thursday. Your About page will now include options like "cisgender," "transgender," and "intersex," in addition to the previous "male" and "female" options.

You can also select your preferred pronoun. Instead of "his" or "her," which is used in messages like "Write on Matt's wall for his birthday," users can select a gender neutral pronoun. The text will read "Write on Matt's wall for their birthday."

Users can also select which of their predesignated groups can see what gender they identify with. The options are only available in the US for now, but the company hopes to expand this to other users in the future.

:story: c|net