GLSEN

[GLSEN]

6 of the safest spaces for LGBT youth to hang online

Creating spaces that are safe and inclusive for LGBT youth is important! Check out this piece featuring some of GLSEN’s National Student Council Members for suggestions on where you can find community online!

More than 60 percent of LGBT youth use the Internet to connect with each other, according to a 2013 study by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN). In addition, LGBT youth said that their online friends were more supportive than those they knew in real life. For LGBT young people, the Internet plays a large role in their ability to feel comfortable exploring their identity and finding others to openly talk to.

H/T: Daily Dot

[GLSEN]

abcnews.go.com

BREAKING: On Facebook, gender is now a fill-in-the-blank

Facebook has just announced that rather than choosing their gender from a drop-down menu, users can now simply fill in the blank to describe their gender identity in their own words. 

Alison C.K. Fogarty, a gender identity researcher at Stanford University, said giving users control over the words describing their gender is a significant step in social recognition of a growing trans community, especially coming from the world’s largest social media company.

“People are still fighting to make room for gender identity within the socially constructed binary of male and female,” Fogarty said. “Labels and identities are powerful in that they give a sense of community, a way of articulating one’s experience.”

Gender is so much more than choosing from a list of multiple choices. We’re glad Facebook recognizes it.

[GLSEN]

Starting right now, you can set a custom gender on your Facebook profile!

In addition to “male” or “female,” you can now choose other gender identities that suit you best from a list of 50 identities. If you choose a custom gender, you can also choose preferred pronouns.

Join GLSEN in thanking Facebook for supporting people of all gender identities!