Facebook introduces same-sex icons for married, gay couples’ timelines

Facebook, the world’s largest online social network, has taken another step toward LGBT-inclusiveness, introducing same-sex icons for users to select from when adding marriage events to their profile’s timeline.

Previously, the marriages between gay couples were marked by the default “bride and groom” icon.

A spokesperson for Facebook said the company had been working on rolling out the new same-sex icons for a few weeks now, but the same-sex grooms made a significant debut over the weekend, appearing above the wedding announcement of Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes to his longtime partner Sean Eldridge. The couple married Saturday in New York.

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Last year, Facebook added two new options to its list of relationship statuses: “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership.”

Facebook, which has long permitted members to indicate on their profiles whether they’re single, married, or “it’s complicated,” was applauded by LGBT advocacy groups for the new statuses, which largely affected gay and lesbian couples.