New emojis for 2021 include ‘woman with beard’ and interracial gay couples
Super cute.
A brand new set of gender-inclusive emojis for 2021 will include a ‘Woman with Beard’ and a gender-neutral ‘Person with Beard’, it has been revealed.
The 217 digital images will also include an array of mixed-race, same-sex couples in a variety of skin tones and, summing up the modern mood, a ‘Face with Spiral Eyes’.
The emojis, designed by the Unicode Consortium, were recently teased on the Unicode blog.
A rep wrote of the Emoji 13.1 update: “This minor release was created to add new emoji before 2022. The Unicode Consortium is a volunteer organization and we would be completely without new emoji in 2021 if it weren’t for the dedication of many volunteers who make this possible. Thank you!”
On the organisation’s main site, a post further clarified: “Additions are expected to include mixed skin tone support for all variations of [couple kissing] and [couple with heart], which until now have only been available in default yellow on most major platforms.”
🆕✨ Have no fear, new #emoji will be here (Soon. Well, soonish. Widely available in 2021) ✨🆕 → https://t.co/WcsayalyDB pic.twitter.com/yWGtXgCNBd
— The Unicode Consortium (@unicode) September 18, 2020
The news follows the 2020 update, released in January, which included the trans flag and a gender-neutral alternative to Santa Claus.
A Unicode Consortium rep said at the time: “Variations of existing emojis now approved for 2020 include a woman or gender-inclusive person in a tuxedo, as well as a gender-neutral person or a man in a veil.
“[…] Also included in this update is a gender-inclusive alternative to Santa Claus and Mrs Claus, named Mx Claus.”