ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2 N2587
2003-05-24
Universal Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set
International Organization for Standardization
Organisation internationale de normalisationеждународная организация по стандартизации
Doc Type: Working Group Document
Title:
Revised proposal to encode symbols for genealogy and gender studies in the UCS
Source: Michael Everson
Status:Individual Contribution
Replaces: N2580
Action:For consideration by JTC1/SC2/WG2 and UTC
Date:
2003-05-24
Discussion on the Unicode e-mail list has brought to light the existence of a number of related symbols.
These are used in discussions of genealogy, botany, and modern gender studies. Some of the charactersused in these fields are already encoded, and the others fill out a set of symbols, all of which shouldencoded in the UCS. Further discussion has suggested revised names for some of these characters.
263F

2640
2642

ê
å
ã

MERCURY= hermaphrodite, double sexed (botany, biology)= virgin (entomology)
FEMALE SIGN
= Venus
MALE SIGN= Mars= iron (alchemy)

The first six (proposed for U+2692-U+2697) have during the last decades become rather widespreadthroughout the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community, and are used both in print and on
web sites as widely – or more widely – as the recycling symbols which were presented in N2240 on
2000-08-27. The seventh and eighth characters (proposed for U+2698-U+2699) are related to thecharacter proposed for U+2696 but have unique semantics in alchemy and early chemistry; note thealchemical value also given for U+2642. The ninth character (proposed for U+269A) is used in a numberof contexts. In botany and other sciences, it forms a set with the already-encoded U+263F, U+2640, andU+2642: hermaphrodite, male, female, and sexless. (Entomologists use U+263F for “virgin” andtherefore use the proposed U+2695 for “hermaphrodite”.) A similar but unrelated symbol (the tenthproposed here, for U+269B) is used in genealogy, it symbolizes an engagement ring and indicates a stateof betrothal. Because both the MALE OR FEMALE SIGN BASE SYMBOL and the RING SYMBOL belong todifferent sets of semantically-related symbols, and can be expected to require glyph presentations
harmonious with the other members of the set, it is strongly suggested that these characters not be unified
with any of the many generic circles already encoded, as those may not be suitable. The eleventh throughsixteenth characters (proposed for U+269C-U+26A3) are also used in genealogy (the first three of these
are related to the RING SYMBOL); the fourteenth is used generically for “battle” in historical literature suchas encyclopaediae, dictionaries, and maps.
2692

é2693

ç1

DOUBLED FEMALE SIGN= lesbianism
DOUBLED MALE SIGN (glyph variant= male homosexualityû)

2694

ï2695

è

2696°

2697

†

2698

…

2699
269A

269B
269C
269D
269E
269F

26A2
26A3

À
îîëíìòñ
ó

INTERLOCKED FEMALE AND MALE SIGN (glyph variant= bisexualityü)

MALE AND FEMALE SIGN
= transgendered sexuality= hermaphrodite (in entomology)
MALE WITH STROKE SIGN
= transgendered sexuality
MALE WITH STROKE AND MALE AND FEMALE SIGN
= transgendered sexuality
VERTICAL MALE WITH STROKE SIGN
= ferrous iron sulphate (alchemy and older chemistry)
HORIZONTAL MALE WITH STROKE SIGN= magnesium (alchemy and older chemistry)
MALE OR FEMALE SIGN BASE SYMBOL= asexuality, sexless, genderless= engaged, betrothed
RING SYMBOL= engaged, betrothed (genealogy)
MARRIAGE SYMBOLDIVORCE SYMBOLUNMARRIED PARTNERSHIP SYMBOLBATTLE SIGN (glyph variant= battleground= died in battle (genealogy)¢)COFFIN= buried (genealogy)
FUNERAL URN= cremated (genealogy)

Above, text from the 21st edition of Die deutsche Rechtschreibung (Mannheim: Duden, 1996, ISBN 3411-04011-4), showing genealogical symbols. Above right, the DIVORCE SYMBOL, with references toMARRIAGE SYMBOL and UNMARRIED PARTNERSHIP SYMBOL , from Carl G. Liungman’s Tanketecken(Trondheim: Polaris, 1993, ISBN 91-88-32601)
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Right, gender symbols from Carl G. Liungman’s
Tanketecken (ISBN 91-88-32601). Below, a
discussion of gender symbols from a site in Wales(http://www.lamp.ac.uk/su/nuswaleslgb/english/symbols.htm). Below right, discussion ofthe botanical use of the already-encoded MERCURY
symbol, taken from a website somewhere;
Liungman offers a similar description.

Right, the VERTICAL MALE WITH STROKE SIGN, usedin alchemy and older chemistry to denote “ferroushydrosulphate”, from Carl G. Liungman’s Tanketecken (ISBN 91-88-32601). Also shown are theHORIZONTAL MALE WITH STROKE SIGN , used toindicate “magnesium”, and the MALE WITH STROKESIGN, used to indicate “steel” from the 1700s; thissymbol is also used now to indicate “transgendered sexuality” by some members of the LGBT
community.

A. Administrative
1. Title
Proposal to encode symbols for genealogy and gender studies in the UCS.
2. Requester’s nameMichael Everson
3. Requester type (Member body/Liaison/Individual contribution)
Individual contribution.
4. Submission date2003-05-24
5. Requester’s reference (if applicable)
6. Choose one of the following:
6a. This is a complete proposalYes.

36b. More information will be provided later
No.

B. Technical -- General
1. Choose one of the following:
1a. This proposal is for a new script (set of characters)
No.
Proposed name of script
1b. The proposal is for addition of character(s) to an existing blockYes.
1b. Name of the existing block
Miscellaneous Symbols.
2. Number of characters in proposal
16
3. Proposed category (see section II, Character Categories)
Category A.
4a. Proposed Level of Implementation (1, 2 or 3) (see clause 14, ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)
Level 1.
4b. Is a rationale provided for the choice?
Yes.
4c. If YES, reference
Spacing characters.
5a. Is a repertoire including character names provided?
Yes.
5b. If YES, are the names in accordance with the character naming guidelines in Annex L of ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000?
Yes.
5c. Are the character shapes attached in a legible form suitable for review?
Yes.
6a. Who will provide the appropriate computerized font (ordered preference: True Type, or PostScript format) for
publishing the standard?
Michael Everson.
6b. If available now, identify source(s) for the font (include address, e-mail, ftp-site, etc.) and indicate the tools used:
Michael Everson, Fontographer.
7a. Are references (to other character sets, dictionaries, descriptive texts etc.) provided?
No.
7b. Are published examples of use (such as samples from newspapers, magazines, or other sources) of proposedcharacters attached?
Yes.
8. Does the proposal address other aspects of character data processing (if applicable) such as input, presentation,sorting, searching, indexing, transliteration etc. (if yes please enclose information)?
No.
9. Submitters are invited to provide any additional information about Properties of the proposed Character(s) or
Script that will assist in correct understanding of and correct linguistic processing of the proposed character(s) orscript. Examples of such properties are: Casing information, Numeric information, Currency information, Display
behaviour information such as line breaks, widths etc., Combining behaviour, Spacing behaviour, Directionalbehaviour, Default Collation behaviour, relevance in Mark Up contexts, Compatibility equivalence and other Unicode
normalization related information. See the Unicode standard at http://www.unicode.org for such information on otherscripts.
Also
seeUnicode
Character
Database
http://www.unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/
UnicodeCharacterDatabase.html and associated Unicode Technical Reports for information needed for considerationby the Unicode Technical Committee for inclusion in the Unicode Standard.
The characters should have the same properties as the MALE SIGN and FEMALE SIGN.

C. Technical -- Justification
1. Has this proposal for addition of character(s) been submitted before? If YES, explain.
No.
2a. Has contact been made to members of the user community (for example: National Body, user groups of the scriptor characters, other experts, etc.)?
No. Well, other experts proposed some of the characters on the Unicode list.
2b. If YES, with whom?
2c. If YES, available relevant documents43. Information on the user community for the proposed characters (for example: size, demographics, information
technology use, or publishing use) is included?
Biologists, .botanists, students of gender, and members of the LGBT community.
4a. The context of use for the proposed characters (type of use; common or rare)
Common symbols used as described above.
4b. Reference
5a. Are the proposed characters in current use by the user community?
Yes.
5b. If YES, where?
Scientific papers, web sites, educational material.
6a. After giving due considerations to the principles in Principles and Procedures document (a WG 2 standingdocument) must the proposed characters be entirely in the BMP?
Yes.
6b. If YES, is a rationale provided?
Yes.
6c. If YES, reference
Keep with similar symbols.
7. Should the proposed characters be kept together in a contiguous range (rather than being scattered)?
8a. Can any of the proposed characters be considered a presentation form of an existing character or character
sequence?
No.
8b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
8c. If YES, reference
9a. Can any of the proposed characters be encoded using a composed character sequence of either existing charactersor other proposed characters?
No.
9b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
9c. If YES, reference
10a. Can any of the proposed character(s) be considered to be similar (in appearance or function) to an existingcharacter?
No.
10b. If YES, is a rationale for its inclusion provided?
10c. If YES, reference
11a. Does the proposal include use of combining characters and/or use of composite sequences (see clauses 4.12 and4.14 in ISO/IEC 10646-1: 2000)?
No.
11b. If YES, is a rationale for such use provided?
11c. If YES, reference
12a. Is a list of composite sequences and their corresponding glyph images (graphic symbols) provided?
No.
12b. If YES, reference
13a. Does the proposal contain characters with any special properties such as control function or similar semantics?
No.
13b. If YES, describe in detail (include attachment if necessary)
14a. Does the proposal contain any Ideographic compatibility character(s)?
No.
14b. If YES, is the equivalent corresponding unified ideographic character(s) identified?

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