Facebook has been under fire from many in the LGBT community for months over their “real name only” policy, which forced many drag queens to either use their real names for their personal pages or delete their page altogether. Although Facebook initially refused to change its policy, despite the protests of many LGBT activists, the site has now decided to apologize for the policy.
As previously reported, major figures in the LGBT community have been speaking out against Facebook’s policy over the past several weeks, with major figures like RuPaul arguing for creative freedom and Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence member Sister Roma, who orchestrated a face-to-face meeting with Facebook, discussing with the site the implications of this policy, which allows anti-LGBT individuals and groups to target people by name.
Yesterday, Facebook’s chief product officer, Chris Cox, posted a status on his personal profile page, apologizing to “the affected community of drag queens, drag kings, transgender, and extensive community of our friends, neighbors, and members of the LGBT community.”
Read Cox’s full apology after the cut. – nicholas robinson
