Transgender Pride Flag Emoji Submission for inclusion in the Unicode Standard for 2020 (Update 18: Accepted as Draft Candidate Emoji for 2020)

Updates

  • The first twitter moment became too full (98 tweets maximum, so a part 2 and 3 have been created):

*Twitter Moment: Transgender Pride Flag Emoji, Part 3, May, 2019 on
*Transgender Pride Flag Emoji Proposal – Part 2, July, 2018 on
*Transgender Pride Flag Emoji Proposal – Part 1, up toJuly, 2018

Update 18

Updated May 3, 2019

See: The Transgender Pride Flag is accepted as Draft Candidate Emoji for 2020! – Ted Eytan, MD

Note: There is a correction to the sequence, duplicating from the blog post above

L2/19-193

Date: 2019-05-01
Title: Additions to emoji data files for Emoji 13.0
Source: ESC / Mark Davis


Make the following additions to data files for Emoji 13.0:

emoji-data.txt
26A7          ; Emoji 

emoji-sequences.txt
26A7 FE0F     ; Basic_Emoji

emoji-variation-sequences.txt
26A7 FE0E  ; text style
26A7 FE0F  ; emoji style

emoji-zwj-sequences.txt
U+1F3F3 U+FE0F U+200D U+26A7 U+FE0F

http://unicode.org/L2/L2019/19193-emoji-update.txt

Update 17

Update 16

Update 15

Update 14

Submitted by:

  • Alda Vigdís Skarphéðinsdóttir (she, hers), Berlin, Germany (Independent software consultant) – @AldaVigdis
  • Bianca Rey (she, hers), Washington, DC, USA (Chair, Capital TransPride) – @BiancaRey
  • Hannah Simpson (she, hers), Washington, DC USA (Writer, speaker, comedian, advocate) – @Hannsimp
  • Tea Uglow (she, hers), Sydney, Australia, (Google) – @teaelleu
  • Ted Eytan, MD (he, him), Washington, DC, USA (physician, Capital TransPride Producers) – @tedeytan
  • Chad Cipiti (he, him), Washington, DC, USA (Capital TransPride Producers) – @chaddashwick
  • Monica Helms (she, hers), Atlanta, GA, USA (creator of the Transgender Pride Flag) – <a href=”https://twitter.com/MF_Helms>MF_Helms

Additional help from:
* Seb Grubb (he, him), San Francisco, CA, USA (Google) – @seb_uk
* Jennifer Daniel (she, hers), Berkeley, CA, USA (Google) – @jenniferdaniel
* Olli Jones (he, him), London, UK (Microsoft) – [email protected]

Proposal for transgender flag emoji 2019 from Ted Eytan, MD, MS, MPH

Update 13

Update 12

A social movement is born, independent of our team. Hashtag: #ClawsOutForTrans

Proposal for transgender flag emoji 2019 from Ted Eytan, MD, MS, MPH

Update 13

Update 12

A social movement is born, independent of our team. Hashtag: #ClawsOutForTrans

Still no response from @Unicode

Update 11

List of global collaborators – March, 2018

  • Alda Vigdís Skarphéðinsdóttir (she, hers), Berlin, Germany (Independent software consultant) – @AldaVigdis
  • Bianca Rey (she, hers), Washington, DC, USA (Chair, Capital TransPride) – @BiancaRey
  • Hannah Simpson (she, hers), Washington, DC USA (Writer, speaker, comedian, advocate) – @Hannsimp
  • Tea Uglow (she, hers), Sydney, Australia, (Google) – @teaelleu
  • Ted Eytan, MD (he, him), Washington, DC, USA (physician, Capital TransPride Producers) – @tedeytan
  • Chadwick Cipiti (he, him), Washington, DC, USA (Capital TransPride Producers) – @chaddashwick
  • Monica Helms (she, hers), Atlanta, GA, USA (creator of the Transgender Pride Flag) – @MF_Helms

Submission for the 2019 deadline – March, 2018

Download/view: Proposal for New Valid Emoji Sequence-version 4 for 2019.pdf

Backup location: Slideshare

Proposal for new valid emoji sequence: Transgender Flag: version 4 for 2019 from Ted Eytan, MD, MS, MPH

Update 10: March, 2018

Comprehensive responses to questions posed by @Unicode, written by collaborator @HannSimp

Trans Flag Unicode (pdf)

Update 9: February, 2018

Response to request: “Members would like to see better data”

What Does Google Trends Tell Us About A Proposal for a Future Valid Emoji Sequence for Transgender Visibility?

Response to request: “Multiple possibilities” & general comments

My Thoughts on Emoji Recently Added, v11.0, without #Transvisibility, without full #LGBTQ inclusion

Update 8: January, 2018

Response from Unicode consortium:

From: UTC Document Submission 
Subject: Re: UTC Document Submission: Transgender Flag and related symbols
Date: January 8, 2018 at 2:16:59 PM EST

This proposal was reviewed by the emoji subcommittee. Members would like to see better data.

There are multiple possibilities for this flag, so this issue could be discussed:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_flags

As far as data goes, it would be helpful to include comparisons to the sum of the values terms such as for ‘gay’, ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’. Comparisons of usage of flags for transgender vs other causes or identity groups would be helpful.

Regards,

Based on the above, our plan is to re-submit with the following helpful information

We are open to any other feedback/suggestions, feel free to add a comment or contact me.

Update 7: December, 2017

  • We’ve joined with Alda Vigdís Skarphéðinsdóttir (she,hers) (@aldavigdis) from Berlin, Germany, an independent software developer to complete the technical specification for transgender symbols

Complete changelog:

  1. New major revision
  2. Additional authors
  3. Detailed technical proposal
  4. New Google Trends data
  5. Aesthetic and layout changes
  6. Additional data from the European Union
  7. Some information on design moved from introduction article
  8. Removal of Bianca Rey quote*
  9. Additional Photo
  10. Removal of Intersex CLDR keyword
  11. Other minor changes
  • To respect the direction from @Unicode not to propose emoji’s based on “causes” we’ve moved @BiancaRey’s quote from the proposal to this blog post.
  • Making clear, in addition, that transgender person visibility in the emoji character set is not a cause nor is it political – the absence of the symbols from the set is a gap of exclusion (see data in the proposal) – as quoted by an earlier reviewer – “It’s a false assumption that emojis are only selected based on quantitative data – there are multifaceted considerations that go into determining what is selected… otherwise a female welder probably wouldn’t have made the cut.”

The Trans Pride Flag to me represents my identity as a trans person, that I belong to a community and that I’m visible – and I don’t think usage metrics can measure that feeling.

I think about a Trans person from a small town who feels like they are alone or they don’t have a community – with the emoji being available, it will be something that the individual can say “This is me!” or “Yay! Trans Pride Flag emoji”. It will bring happiness, a sense of community or support the identity to that individual.

Having the emoji available would reach so people in the world looking for something that allows them to say “there is an emoji for me. It reflects who I am.” It can also create conversation and education for many.Bianca Rey, Chair of Capital TransPride, Washington, DC USA November 2017

Update 6: November 23, 2017

Transgender Pride Flag Emoji Submission to Unicode ConsortiumEmoji Proposal – Transgender Pride Flag Updated November, 2017 – PDF
  • We’ve joined with Tea Uglow (@Teaelleu) who led us by a year in making this proposal to the Unicode consortium, to integrate her knowledge about the method to produce a transgender symbol and ZWJ sequence to produce a transgender pride flag emoji
  • Updated the Google trends data regarding searches for transgender emoji symbols – there has been significant change since June, 2017
  • Updated the narrative, as provided by Bianca Rey (@BiancaRey), for a societal and health perspective
  • Added additional photographs showing the use of the transgender pride flag symbol by more people in the United States’ capital, Washington, DC

Finally, pointing out news of the Transgender Day of Remembrance event in South Dakota, United States this week, demonstrating the importance of TransVisibility in our society today.

Would you like to join with us or sign on to this proposal? Please post in the comments or contact me.

Update 5: October 23, 2017

No update from @Unicode yet, just some very interesting conversation about inclusion and language:

I especially appreciate this comment

…because while our proposal has some legitimate technical dependencies, there are other social considerations that come into focus, especially if the other emoji’s that are being proposed are the “heart with knife”, “sad poop” and pirate flag.

All of this said, as it is said, “don’t react, innovate” – important to understand how @Unicode and associated vendors work together and participate, even if we have to learn ZWJ sequences.

I believe Unicode is meeting this week.

And I never imagined that as a family doctor I would be participating in the formation of a language. On the other hand, these things matter for health, and so therefore it’s exactly the right place for a family doctor to be.

Update 4: August 8, 2017

Not approved at this time, appears to be grouped in with other flag proposals for consideration in October.

Recommendations as of August 8, 2017 (via @Unicode)

Primer on ZWJ sequences (for the curious)

Update 3: August 6, 2017

@PinkNews is reporting that the proposal has not been accepted by @Unicode. However, we have not received any communication from the Unicode consortium about this. See the dialogue about this on twitter.

Update 2: July 7, 2017

Thank you again for your proposal. This is just a status-update. The emoji subcommittee needs a larger discussion about how to handle different types of flags. Your proposal is being held with some others pending outcome of that discussion.

Update 1: June 30, 2017

Thank you for your submission. This is to let you know it has been safely received, and will be reviewed by the emoji subcommittee.

Transgender Pride Flag Emoji Submission

Proposal (First Version, Newer Version Above)

Emoji Proposal Version 1.0 – Transgender Pride Flag – Download (pdf)

As the title of the post says, this is the official submission to Unicode for the Transgender Pride Flag Emoji.

Monica Helms, the creator of the Transgender Pride Flag, is a signatory on the submission 🙂 .

The transgender pride flag signifies visibility in a world that’s learning to love better. A sticker may seem like a small innovation but it means a lot to a community that’s been marginalized.

This year at Capital Trans Pride, we lamented that the only emojis we could send to each other are the rainbow pride flag.

“My reason for wanting a trans flag emoji is so that a trans individual can feel a sense of belonging and visibility when using technology to communicate.”
Bianca Rey (@BiancaRey), Co-Chair, Capital Trans Pride, Washington, DC (Trans Pride Sticker Set Site)

If you don’t like the news, go make your own. Hopefully the news will be good. Feel free to review the submission and provide us with your comments.

More people with health care = more humans living authentically and able to help the world learn to ❤️ better. Isn't this century great? equalitymarch2017 #EqualityEqualsHealth #dc #WeareDC trans.equalityy
More people with health care = more humans living authentically and able to help the world learn to ❤️ better. Isn’t this century great? @equalitymarch2017 #EqualityEqualsHealth #dc #WeareDC @trans.equalityy (View on Flickr.com)
Proposal for new valid emoji sequence: Transgender Symbols and Pride Flag from Ted Eytan, MD, MS, MPH

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Ted Eytan, MD
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