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Living October 31, 2019

Nearly 400 new emojis debut, including gender-neutral options

WATCH: News headlines today: Dec. 23, 2020

One emoji, two emoji, three emoji, four-hundred emoji?!

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That's right, nearly 400 brand-new emojis have been released in the latest Apple iOS update.

There's 398 to be exact, including an extensive collection of non-binary, or gender-neutral emojis.

New in iOS 13.2: A gender-neutral option for nearly all human emojis 🧛‍♀️ / 🧛 / 🧛‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/ZFKhQhNhwk

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 28, 2019

From merpeople to vampires, the latest iOS update is giving underrepresented communities a form of heightened visibility.

Changed in iOS 13.2: 🧛 Vampire, an emoji added in 2017, now has a more ambiguous gender appearance, slimmer fangs, and gray clothing instead of fuchsia; instead of showing with the same design as 🧛‍♀️ Woman Vampire as it has until now https://t.co/OmAHgHDXIf pic.twitter.com/kHz18YljRW

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 31, 2019

“Emojis are an extremely popular form of communication in today’s society, and therefore it is critical that all Apple users have the ability to use emojis that accurately represent their identity," GLAAD’s Director of Communications, Mathew Lasky told "GMA."

"As more and more people continue to identify outside of the binary of male and female, Apple’s new gender-neutral emojis reflect the diverse world we live in and also raise the bar for inclusion in digital spaces.”

Changed in iOS 13.2: 👪 Family now displays two adults and one child - all with an ambiguous / gender inclusive appearance - instead of showing with the same design as 👨‍👩‍👦 Family: Man, Woman, Boy https://t.co/FoYZnsZnMU pic.twitter.com/ULrEvGzO5c

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 31, 2019

In addition to the new gender-inclusive options, users will now be able to select any combination of skin tone for the Holding Hand emoji.

New in iOS 13.2: Mixed Skin Tone Support for Men Holding Hands https://t.co/aX2PiHdE9E pic.twitter.com/jRccu8ECOC

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 30, 2019

Apple is celebrating diversity in its many forms.

New in iOS 13.2: 🦯 Probing Cane https://t.co/ussLpow59J pic.twitter.com/0atsSvuc6o

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 29, 2019

Following Apple’s proposal to the Unicode Consortium last year to introduce more disability-themed emoji, a guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, wheelchairs, a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg are all now available in the emoji keyboard.

New in iOS 13.2: 🦻 Ear With Hearing Aid https://t.co/JVWXvLpsat pic.twitter.com/lh6pybzfvI

— Emojipedia 📙 (@Emojipedia) October 29, 2019

There are now 3,178 emojis according to Emojipedia.