Facebook adds new relationship statuses: civil unions, domestic partnerships

Today, Facebook added the two options to the “relationship status” section of profiles. Users are now able to specify that they are in a civil union or domestic partnership.

According to Mashable, the update is effective immediately for U.S. residents, and will be rolled out to other countries soon. These options will not appear in countries where same-sex marriage is already legal.

In an email to Mashable, a Facebook representative stated:

“This has been a highly requested feature from users. We want to provide options for people to genuinely and authentically reflect their relationships on Facebook.”

Current relationship statuses include single, in a relationship, engaged, married, it’s complicated, in an open relationship, widowed, seperated, and divorced.

Gay people ‘more likely to join Facebook and Twitter’

Gay people are significantly more likely to be members of social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter, research indicates.

Nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of gay men and lesbians have a profile on Facebook, as against 65 per cent of heterosexuals, reports The Telegraph.

Homosexuals are almost twice as likely as straight people to have an account on Twitter, with 29 per cent claiming to use the micro-blogging website. The figure for straight people is just 15 per cent.

MySpace and Linkedin, the business contacts website, also have a disproportionate number of gay members, the research indicates.

Their survey of 2,400 Americans also found that gays are more likely to read blogs than their straight counterparts – 54 per cent compared to 40 per cent.

Google to offer gay staff extra pay to allow for tax inequality with straight couples

Internet giant Google today began paying its gay staff more than heterosexual employees in the latest example of its lavish perks culture, reports The Daily Mail.

Lesbian and homosexual staff will get extra wages to make up for higher taxes they have to pay.

The search engine decided it was only fair to bump up the salaries of its gay staff, a spokesman said.

Under U.S. law, when a firm offers health insurance as a benefit for an employee’s partner, it is tax-free for married couples but taxable income for  gays.

Google will make up the difference in additional pay, on average $980 a year.

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Half of all LGBT youths are cyberbullied, according to new study

Researchers from the Iowa State University, Warren Blumenfeld and Robyn Cooper, have discovered that many gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and allied youths are the targets of cyberbullying.

According to them, roughly half of all “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and allied youths are regular victims of cyberbullying, which causes psychological and emotional distress to victims — producing thoughts of suicide in some who are repeatedly victimized.”

In the study, 45 percent reported feeling depressed as a result of being cyberbullied, 38 percent felt embarrassed, and 28 percent felt anxious about attending school. More than a quarter (26 percent) had suicidal thoughts.

The ISU study also proposes strategies for cyberbullying prevention. Eighty percent of the survey’s respondents indicated that their peers should do more to stop it.

Have you ever been a victim of cyberbullying, or any other form of victimization due to you sexual orientation? Click ‘reblog’ to let us know.

The Matthew Shepard Foundation didn’t come in 1st place in the Chase Community Giving Facebook contest, but the advisory board selected it to receive an additional donation of $37,000, bringing the total $62,000 ($25,000 for being one of the 100 finalists).

There were 3 LGBT charities in the Facebook competition.

The foundation seeks to prevent LGBT hate crimes and discrimination.