For years Facebook has allowed people to choose "Male," "Female," or to not choose a gender at all - the singular pronoun "they" was used. Now, Facebook is forcing users to make a choice between Male and Female, which is violating on a number of levels, and represents an assault on the ethos of self-determination that has made the internet and social networking so powerful. There are many people in this world who do not fit neatly into either gender category, or who would prefer to keep information relating to their gender private.

I experienced this switch against my will; when looking at my profile I noticed Facebook had (I assume arbitrarily) assigned feminine pronouns to my profile without asking or notifying me first. Regardless of my personal stake in the matter, I know that there are thousands of people who would prefer to not designate themselves as either Male or Female, for both identity and privacy issues. Facebook, please bring back the third option; it didn't harm anyone and gave so many people peace of mind at how they represented themselves online.