Interracial same-sex couple emojis are coming to your phone
Tinder has managed to get interracial same-sex couple emojis on phones (Unicode Consortium)
The Unicode Consortium has made interracial same-sex couple emojis a reality.
After Tinder started a petition last year to make emojis more inclusive by representing couples of different races, the emoji creator has revealed it’s doing just that.
More than 50,000 people joined Tinder’s campaign, leading the Unicode Consortium to announce that interracial same-sex couple emojis will be included in the next rollout.
Watch the video for the Tinder campaign that resulted in interracial same-sex couple emojis:
That means that by October this year, queer partners will be able to feel more included in popular culture than ever.
Tinder reacts to success of campaign to get interracial same-sex couple emojis
Tinder’s chief marketing officer Jenny Campbell responded to the news by saying: “Tinder advocates for the freedom of people to live how they want to live and love who they want to love.
“The success of our Interracial Couple Emoji campaign shows how powerful the voices are of the more than 50,000 people who joined our cause by signing our petition.”
“I couldn’t be more proud of this incredibly positive outcome.”
— Tinder’s chief marketing officer Jenny Campbell
“Together, we affected change and ensured visual representation for interracial couples around the world. I couldn’t be more proud of this incredibly positive outcome,” Campbell added.
The petition made it clear that “Tinder believes all love deserves emoji representation.”
New interracial same-sex couple emojis to be unveiled alongside gender neutral emojis
Last month, the Unicode Consortium revealed that gender-inclusive emojis for couples in which both partners don’t define as male or female will be coming to Apple and Android phones in 2019.
The emojis for non-binary partners will be available in 16 different combinations of skin tone.
They are listed as “people holding hands,” and will be seen in the family category with the rest of the 230 new emojis, which were revealed on February 5.
The move comes after gender neutral emojis were unveiled in 2017.
The gender neutral emojis will come to phones later in 2019. (Unicode Consortium)
The latest rollout of emojis is also set to include various images representing disabled people, such as blind people using white canes, people in wheelchairs and guide dogs.
However, though the new white heart emoji will please anyone who likes using emojis to represent the transgender flag, it won’t satisfy people who have long called for a transgender flag emoji.
Despite users now being able to choose from thousands of emojis, the trans flag has never officially been approved for creation.
In the Unicode Consortium’s sixth major emoji update since 2014, it still won’t be present. The bisexual, lesbian, pansexual and asexual flags are also not included.
The new emojis will include a sloth, skunk, mechanical arm, ice cube, yo-yo and banjo, as well as a drop of blood—but still no LGBT+ flag emojis apart from the Pride flag.
