Interracial couples could be coming to emoji in 2019

1 months ago

Interracial same-sex couples are being considered among 61 new emoji proposals.

The Unicode Consortium, the body responsible for emoji, is mulling over 179 new emoji in total with the inclusion of variants, which could be added in 2019.

A combination of gender and skin-tones holding hands have been added to the emoji draft candidates list, as well as an emoji to represent a hard of hearing person.

“The list of draft candidates will be reviewed and finalised in the next UTC (Unicode Technical Committee) meeting, this coming September,” the Unicode Consortium said.

A hard of hearing person joins other disability-themed emoji suggestions, such as a mechanical arm and a guide dog, which were put forward to the committee by Apple back in March.

The Unicode Consortium is already looking ahead to its 2020 batch of emoji too, with a ninja, a military helmet and a screwdriver on the candidate list. It will continue to accept submissions until March 2019.

This year’s Unicode 11.0 update saw the addition of 66 new emoji, ranging from redheads and a cold face, to a kangaroo and a party face.