The Progression of Pride Expression - Part 2
It’s been a year since we published our blog post The Progression of Pride Expression where we discussed the evolution of emojis to become more inclusive. As it is Pride Month, we thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit this topic and report on the changes since then. We’re happy to report that there have been some good improvements in diversity and inclusion with a new suite of emojis providing a more accurate and respectful representation of the LGBTQ+ community.
For example, in their latest emoji library release, Apple and Android have further diversified their emoji offerings by creating a wide variety of new options such as customizations in skin tone and gender preferences which also now includes options for gender-neutral persons.
According to Emojipedia, both platforms have taken expressing love to a whole new level with the expansion of their ‘couples featuring hearts’ emoji library to include new customizable options which include more combinations of skin tones, interracial couples, same-sex and mixed-sex couple emojis, and gender neutral couples.
New to Apple and Android users, both companies have also taken steps forward by expanding their libraries to include the celebration of non-gendered life events, such as including non-gender specific bride emojis. Also, all career emojis now feature female, male and non-gender-specific emoji variants as well as different skin tones.
Perhaps one of the most celebrated advancements is the addition of the trans pride flag and trans symbol emoji which was originally proposed back in 2016. For the community, the addition of these two emojis are more than just another form of expression, but the visible support and acknowledgment of their community.
On the face of it (excuse the pun!), emojis may not seem that important. But at Keeyora we are thrilled to see the evolution of emojis to be more inclusive because it helps to increase the general public’s visibility and awareness of the LGBTQ+ society. Each emoji library release contains a more diversified suite of options which is a small step forward to help to encourage conversations to move towards a more inclusive mindset overall.
As visibility and support for LGBTQ+ and transgender communities increases we are able to then encourage future conversations to open up even more possibilities and we are looking forward to future emoji library updates!
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