For many on Facebook, relationship status is a key feature. So it was frustrating to many that their own status wasn’t even an option — gays and lesbians who live in states where same-sex marriage is not legal. Facebook is remedying that by adding “In a domestic partnership” and “In a civil union.”
These two selections join “Single,” “In a relationship,” “Engaged,” “Married,” “It’s complicated,” “In an open relationship,” “Widowed,” “Separated” and “Divorced.” It seems timely, if not overdue, considering there are probably a lot more people who wish to openly disclose they are in a domestic partnership or civil union than an open relationship — or a complicated mess.
But as the new statuses are not universally welcome. Advocates of gay marriage disdain the “separate but unequal” titles, and many homosexual couples prefer to define themselves as married, whether legally recognized by their state or not.
