How to Edit Your Gender Identity on Facebook

Custom gender options and pronouns are available

by
Leslie Walker
Writer
Former Lifewire writer Leslie Walker is a multimedia journalism professor who covers social media, web publishing, and internet technologies.
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Leslie Walker
Updated on October 27, 2019
Facebook gender identity options screen

When signing up for a Facebook account, people typically choose a gender when filling out their basic information. Gender options on Facebook used to be limited to male or female, but now Facebook offers dozens of gender-identity options. It's easy to edit your current gender option or add a new one if you never set one.

Multiple Gender-Identity Options

In 2014, Facebook worked with advocates from LGBTQ groups to add additional gender options to accommodate users who don't identify as either male or female.

At that time, Facebook rolled out more than 50 different gender options, including Bigender and Gender Fluid. Facebook also began allowing users to decide what pronoun is most appropriate for them, for example, she, he, or they.

Since its initial 50 gender options were created, Facebook has added more. Facebook hasn't released a comprehensive list, but as many as 71 options have been counted.

How to Add or Change Your Facebook Gender Option

To change or edit gender options on Facebook:

  1. Visit your Timeline page and select the About or Update Info link under your profile picture. Both links lead to the profile area, where information about you resides.

  2. Scroll down to the Basic Information box, which contains gender information along with marital status and birthdate. The Basic Information area lists the gender identity you already selected. If you never selected a gender identity, it may say Add Gender.

    If you can't find the Basic Information box, look for the About You box and select More to find additional detail categories.

  3. Select either Add Gender, if you're adding it for the first time, or the Edit button at the right to change a previously selected gender.

  4. No list of gender options will appear automatically. Type the first few letters of the gender identity you're looking for into the search box, and then available gender options matching those letters will appear in a drop-down menu.

    For example, if you type trans, Trans Female and Trans Male will pop up, among other options. If you type A, Androgynous will pop up.

  5. Choose your gender option and select Save.

Examples of Facebook Gender Options

Facebook's gender options include:

  • Agender
  • Androgynous
  • Bigender
  • Cis
  • Cis Female
  • Cis Male
  • Gender Fluid
  • Gender Questioning
  • Male to Female
  • Trans
  • Trans female
  • Trans male
  • Transgender Person
  • Transsexual
  • Transsexual Female
  • Transsexual Male
  • Two-Spirit

Selecting the Audience for Gender Status

Facebook's Audience Selector function controls who can see your gender selection.

Use Facebook's Custom Friends List to specify who can see your gender identity, then select that list via the Audience Selector function. This is the same process involved in choosing who can see any status update.