article_snippet.sent: (CNN)The new emojis are here!
article_snippet.sent: On Thursday, Apple released a new version of Apple mobile operating system that includes more diversity than ever when it comes to the race, ethnicity and sexual orientation of Apple emojis -- those cute little images that users can insert into text messages or emails when words alone just won't cut Apple.
article_snippet.sent: Or more accurately, think of a white face smiling because up until Thursday's update, all the emojis had pale skin.
article_snippet.sent: Now there's a range of emoji skin tones to pick from, including yellow, brown and black.  
article_snippet.sent: Now that will be able to choose the skin tones for each human emoji, and that will also include ... Santa Claus.
article_snippet.sent: In fact, thanks to Apple, we may even see Brown Santa emojis this December.
article_snippet.sent: Apple has now given us gay and lesbian couple emojis, kissing with a heart over gay and lesbian couple emojis heads.
article_snippet.sent: Redheads, for example, are pretty pissed off because there are no emojis featuring their hair color.
article_snippet.sent: In fact, supporters of a redheaded emoji have started a petition that has already garnered several thousand signatures.
article_snippet.sent: Even expanding the flags represented by emojis, as Apple has done, comes at some peril.
article_snippet.sent: I must admit that being partially of Palestinian heritage, it's heartening to see that despite the fact that some refuse to recognize a Palestinian state, Apple has chosen to now include a Palestinian flag emoji.
article_snippet.sent: Of course the bigger question in the whole diverse-emoji issue is: What took Apple so long?
article_snippet.sent: That the company (finally) did is a step in the right direction: America's demographics are changing, so our representations of who our are -- even representations as tiny as emojis -- should reflect this.
highlights_snippet.sent: Apple's new emoji lineup is diverse in race, ethnicity and sexual orientation .
  