Some of the new emoji for 2021. Source: Unicode / Twitter

September 25, 2020

Unicode Announces New LGBTQ-Related Emoji for 2021

Kevin Schattenkirk READ TIME: 1 MIN.

Unicode recently announced Emoji 13.1, a series of 217 new emoji to be released in 2021, including new LGBTQ-related emoticons.

Among the 217 new additions, 201 are skin tone variants while the other seven include "heart on fire," "mending heart," "face exhaling," "face in clouds," "face with spiral eyes" as well as trans-related and gender neutral emoji such as "woman with beard" and "person with beard." The skin tone variants mostly consist of a wide variety of couples with hearts above their heads.

A blog post announcing the 2021 emoji states:

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!

View samples of Emoji 13.1 at the Unicode blog.

by Kevin Schattenkirk

Kevin Schattenkirk is an ethnomusicologist and pop music aficionado.

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