Facebook does not require users to be strictly male or female anymore. The world's largest social network now has 56 new gender identity options for users to pick from, as well as three pronoun choices: him, her and them.

For instance, after users pick their gender option of choice, Facebook might now invite the user's friend to write a birthday message on "their" wall, instead of "his" or "her" wall.

Facebook said that it worked with its "Network of Support, a group of leading LGBT advocacy organizations" in order to come out with these 50 new gender identity options.

"When you come to Facebook to connect with the people, causes, and organisations you care about, we want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self," the social network said on its Facebook Diversity page.

"An important part of this is the expression of gender, especially when it extends beyond the definitions of just "male" or female." So today, we're proud to offer a new custom gender option to help you better express your own identity on Facebook," it said.

Facebook said it would be giving users the option of deciding who could and couldn't see their gender option.

The social network is making the new option available in the US first saying it is hoping to roll the feature out globally in the future.

Below are the 56 custom genders that have been identified so far. Users can access them via an autocomplete drop-down menu within Facebook.

  • Agender
  • Androgyne
  • Androgynous
  • Bigender
  • Cis
  • Cis Female
  • Cis Male
  • Cis Man
  • Cis Woman
  • Cisgender
  • Cisgender Female
  • Cisgender Male
  • Cisgender Man
  • Cisgender Woman
  • Female to Male
  • FTM
  • Gender Fluid
  • Gender Nonconforming
  • Gender Questioning
  • Gender Variant
  • Genderqueer
  • Intersex
  • Male to Female
  • MTF
  • Neither
  • Neutrois
  • Non-binary
  • Other
  • Pangender
  • Trans
  • Trans Female
  • Trans Male
  • Trans Man
  • Trans Person
  • Trans Woman
  • Trans*
  • Trans* Female
  • Trans* Male
  • Trans* Man
  • Trans* Person
  • Trans* Woman
  • Transfeminine
  • Transgender
  • Transgender Female
  • Transgender Male
  • Transgender Man
  • Transgender Person
  • Transgender Woman
  • Transmasculine
  • Transsexual
  • Transsexual Female
  • Transsexual Male
  • Transsexual Man
  • Transsexual Person
  • Transsexual Woman
  • Two-spirit
Facebook