MENLO PARK, Calif. — Buck Angel, transgender porn star, advocate and educator, has taken a strong supportive stance on behalf of Facebook’s recent — and extensive — expansion of gender options for users.
Branching out from the male/female binary, Facebook earlier this month disclosed to the AP that it has added about 50 different terms people can use to identify their gender, as well as three preferred pronoun choices: him, her or them. Other customizable choices include androgynous, bi-gender, intersex, gender fluid and transsexual.
“For me, it’s incredibly awesome and positive,” Angel told the Huffington Post.
“Just for Facebook, which is obviously the giant, to make an effort and to do this … I don’t care how many categories you put on there, the fact that you’re even acknowledging the fact that people don’t identify just as male or female. To me, it just shows [a] huge amount of positivity.”
Angel added that he has experienced much puzzlement in response to his own, other-gendered friendly dating site, BuckAngelDating.com.
“I have my own dating website … and it took a long time for them to be able to change. They didn’t even get it. I was like, ‘There’s actually other people who consider themselves other.' And they were like, What do you mean?’”
To check out the full discussion about Facebook’s updated gender options on the Huffington Post, click here.
