Protesting a Facebook policy that allows people to flag fake names, drag queens and the LGBT community asked San Francisco Pride parade organizers in late April to bar the social networking company from the annual festivities.
They got an answer this week.
Facebook will still be allowed to participate in the June pride parade, SF Pride organizers and the company said in a joint statement today.
Facebook has shown willingness in recent months to make improvements in the Authentic Names reporting policy, and has committed to continue quarterly meetings with organizers and stakeholders and to continue to work with recommendations to ensure that everyone can be on Facebook as their authentic self, the SF Pride Celebration Committee said in a statement.
Drag queens and the LGBT community, which use pseudonyms on their Facebook accounts, raised concerns last year that they were being cyberbullied. Some people were reporting to Facebook that they were not using an authentic identity, causing them to get locked out of their accounts.
Facebook publicly apologized to the groups last October, but protests recently reignited because drag queens said enough hasn t been done.
They never agreed or recognized that the fake name reporting option punishes identity and not behavior, said San Francisco drag queen Sister Roma.
Facebook has said they require people to verify their identities if an account is flagged as fake to prevent harassment, fraud, impersonation and hate speech on the social network.
The outcry over Facebook s real name policy though is far from over.
More than 750 people have signed up to attend a protest scheduled at the company s headquarters on June 1.
Photo Credit: Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images