Kiss: Man, Man Emoji

Two men kissing. It's a romantic emoji depicting love between two men, used to celebrate same-sex relationships, show Pride, or just text your boyfriend. The meaning is straightforward, but the story behind it isn't.

The emoji was added to Emoji 2.0 in 2015. That same year, Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 US states on June 26. The White House lit up in rainbow colors that night. These weren't coordinated, but the timing meant the emoji arrived in a year when visibility for LGBTQ+ relationships was at an all-time high. The emoji and the legal right to marry showed up together.

Technically, it's one of the most complex emojis in the standard. The sequence is: 👨 Man + ZWJ + ❤️ Red Heart + ZWJ + 💋 Kiss Mark + ZWJ + 👨 Man. That's 7 codepoints to render one image. Add skin tone modifiers for both men and you're looking at even more. Emoji 13.1 in 2021 added 200 new skin-tone combinations for couple emojis alone, allowing each person to have a different skin tone.

It's also one of the most politically contested emojis ever created. Apple was investigated by Russian police in 2015 for including same-sex couple emojis, which were considered potential violations of Russia's "gay propaganda" law. Russian censors ultimately ruled the emojis didn't violate the law. In Indonesia, authorities pressured messaging apps like Line to remove gay emoji stickers.

During Pride Month (June), this emoji's usage spikes across every platform. It shows up in bios, profile decorations, Instagram stories, Twitter/X posts celebrating relationships, and as a reaction to any content about LGBTQ+ love and visibility.

Outside of Pride, it's used year-round by couples sharing their relationship on social media, friends showing support for LGBTQ+ rights, and in casual texting between partners. The emoji doesn't require a political statement. For many people, it's just the right kiss emoji for their relationship.

On Slack and professional platforms, using the emoji is a form of allyship and visibility. Some companies include it in Pride month communications, diversity initiatives, and ERG (Employee Resource Group) messaging. Its presence in corporate contexts, while sometimes criticized as performative, normalizes LGBTQ+ representation in spaces where it was historically invisible.

One important dynamic: on platforms with global reach, this emoji can trigger content moderation in certain regions. Some social media users in countries with anti-LGBTQ+ laws report posts containing same-sex couple emojis being flagged or suppressed. The emoji carries different weight depending on where you are in the world.

Same-sex couple emojis have a layered history. Apple introduced same-sex family emojis in iOS 6 (2012), before the Unicode standard formally included them. The broader push for inclusive couple emojis happened in 2015 with Emoji 2.0, which introduced Kiss: Man, Man alongside Kiss: Woman, Woman and various family configurations.

The timing was loaded. On June 26, 2015, the US Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples under the Fourteenth Amendment. All 50 states were required to perform and recognize same-sex marriages. That same year, same-sex couple emojis shipped to phones worldwide.

The backlash was immediate and international. Russian police investigated Apple for potentially violating the country's law against "promoting non-traditional sexual relationships" to minors. Russian politician Vitaly Milonov pushed for a Russia-specific iOS version with the emojis removed or age-restricted. In January 2016, Russian censors ultimately ruled the emojis didn't violate the law. In Indonesia, the government pressured Line to remove gay emoji stickers and pushed Facebook and WhatsApp to do the same.

A quieter but significant update came in 2021 with Emoji 13.1, which added multi-skin-tone support for couple emojis. This created 200 new skin-tone combinations for kissing and couple-with-heart emojis, allowing each person to have a different skin tone. It was both a representation win and a technical feat, requiring 25 new sequences per base emoji.

1. 2012Apple introduces same-sex family emojis in iOS 6, before Unicode formally includes them
2. 2015Kiss: Man, Man added in Emoji 2.0. Same year as Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality ruling↗
3. 2015Russian police investigate Apple over gay emojis; censors later rule they're not illegal↗
4. 2021Emoji 13.1 adds 200 skin-tone combinations for couple emojis, including multi-skin-tone variants↗

In the US and Western Europe, the emoji is broadly accepted and commonly used. It appears in corporate Pride campaigns, dating app profiles, and casual texting. The legal and cultural normalization of same-sex marriage since 2015 means the emoji is unremarkable in most social contexts.

In Russia, the emoji exists in a legal gray zone. While censors ruled in 2016 that pre-installed emojis don't violate the "gay propaganda" law, the cultural climate remains hostile. Using the emoji on Russian social media can draw harassment.

In parts of the Middle East and Africa, where homosexuality is criminalized, the emoji is effectively censored or dangerous to use. In Indonesia, the government has pressured messaging apps to remove LGBTQ+ content. In Saudi Arabia, content moderation systems may flag posts containing same-sex couple emojis.

In East Asia, the picture is mixed. Japan has growing LGBTQ+ visibility (Tokyo recognized same-sex partnerships in 2015), while South Korea's LGBTQ+ community uses the emoji in activism and Pride content despite social conservatism. Taiwan legalized same-sex marriage in 2019 and uses these emojis freely.

The emoji's meaning doesn't change across cultures. Two men kissing is two men kissing. What changes is whether sending it is an act of love, protest, or risk.

• •Apple included same-sex family emojis in iOS 6 (2012), three years before the Unicode standard formally added same-sex couple emojis in Emoji 2.0 (2015). Apple moved faster than the standard-setting body.
• •Russian police investigated Apple in 2015 over same-sex couple emojis. Russian censors ruled in January 2016 that pre-installed emojis don't violate Russia's anti-gay propaganda law.
• •Emoji 13.1 (2021) added 200 skin-tone combinations for couple emojis. With 5 skin tones and 2 people, each couple type needed 25 new ZWJ sequences (5 x 5 combinations).
• •The emoji's codepoint sequence (7 characters) is longer than many English words. Add skin tones and it becomes one of the longest emoji sequences in the standard.
• •Same-sex couple emojis shipped the same year as Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), the Supreme Court case legalizing same-sex marriage in all 50 US states. The legal right and the digital representation arrived together.

• •Some people use 👨‍❤️‍💋‍👨 platonically between close male friends ("bromance"). This can muddy the waters. The emoji's primary meaning is romantic. Adding 😂 or context clears up the intent.
• •On platforms with poor ZWJ support, the emoji can render as four separate characters: 👨❤️💋👨. This isn't a glitch in the message; it's a rendering limitation. The sender meant to send one kissing couple.

• •Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) legalized same-sex marriage in all 50 US states. The 5-4 Supreme Court ruling concluded that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. The emoji arrived the same year.
• •The White House lit up in rainbow colors on June 26, 2015, the night of the Obergefell ruling. President Obama called it a "victory for America." Social media flooded with rainbow overlays, Pride emojis, and same-sex couple symbols.
• •Apple's early move: Apple included same-sex family emojis in iOS 6 in 2012, three years before the Unicode standard officially added them. Apple was proactive on LGBTQ+ representation while other platforms lagged.
• •The Russian investigation made Apple the unlikely protagonist of an international LGBTQ+ rights story. Russian politician Vitaly Milonov demanded a Russia-specific iOS version without gay emojis. Censors ruled they were legal in January 2016.

• •Kiss: Man, Man is a 7-codepoint ZWJ sequence: U+1F468U+1F468 + U+200DU+200D + U+2764U+2764 + U+FE0FU+FE0F + U+200DU+200D + U+1F48BU+1F48B + U+200DU+200D + U+1F468U+1F468. It's one of the longest standard emoji sequences.
• •With skin tone modifiers for both men, the sequence gets even longer. Each man's skin tone modifier inserts after their respective U+1F468U+1F468 codepoint.
• •On platforms without ZWJ support, this renders as 👨❤️💋👨 (four separate characters). Always test rendering on target platforms, especially older Android and Windows versions.
• •Slack: :kiss-man-man::kiss-man-man: or :couplekiss_man_man::couplekiss_man_man:. Discord: :couplekiss_mm::couplekiss_mm:. Not all third-party apps support the gendered variant.
• •Emoji 13.1 (2021) expanded this with 25 skin-tone combinations (5 x 5) per couple type. That's U+1F468U+1F468 + skin1 + U+200DU+200D + U+2764U+2764 + U+FE0FU+FE0F + U+200DU+200D + U+1F48BU+1F48B + U+200DU+200D + U+1F468U+1F468 + skin2.

See the full Emoji Developer Tools guide for regex patterns, encoding helpers, and more.