Petition circulates for a transgender flag emoji

A petition, created on Change.org, has begun circulating the web asking for a transgender flag emoji to be added to our smartphones.

The petition is aimed at Unicode, the company that programs emoji’s for Google, Facebook, and Apple. Trans activists have asked for a trans flag emoji for a long time now, expressing their frustration at being passed over in recent updates for other emoji’s like the lobster emoji.

“Unicode granted the Lobster emoji proposal, which argued that people suffered ‘frustration and confusion’ at having to use a shrimp or crab emoji in instead of a lobster. Imagine if that was your gender,” reads the petition states.

“Emojis are a way for the world to connect, and trans people shouldn’t be left out of the conversation…Surely we deserve the same rights you have afforded crustaceans? Especially as a community so often faced with violence and discrimination.”

The hashtag #ClawsOutForTrans has started trending in support of the trans flag emoji.