Facebook Adds Civil Unions As Relationship Statuses

Time to check the newsfeed and see if any friends’ statuses have been updated. Facebook has added two new statuses to the relationship section: “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership.” Facebook, which has 600 million users worldwide, had previously had the statuses “single,” “in a relationship,” “it’s complicated,” and “married.” Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation President Jarrett Barrios called the new statuses “a clear message in support of gay and lesbian couples across the globe.” Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said the change had been “highly requested” from users and said, “We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.” The new statuses are available in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, France, and Australia.