Latinx is the word, or not, depending on issue position, in the Connecticut General Assembly this legislative session.
The word denotes a gender-neutral person of Latin American background representing an alternative to Latino or Latina.
Bridgeport enjoys the largest Hispanic population in Connecticut. Some Hispanic lawmakers want to ban the word from official government documents calling it offensive to Spanish speakers. Others assert it’s a culture war.
LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano shares his take on this growing national debate.
For the last decade or so, “Latinx” has provoked the linguistic version of a pie fight.
No one who comes within the orbit of this term can resist joining in the uproar. When they inevitably tap out, they emerge messier.
The neologism refers to folks who trace their heritage to Latin America and is thus a rough synonym for “Latino.” Its champions argue that “Latino” reinforces patriarchal norms–the –o suffix in Spanish nouns is the masculine form, the –a signifies feminine–and that the “x” is inclusive by recognizing nonbinary people.
Although no one knows the exact origins of “Latinx,” the word began to emerge in online culture during the mid-2000s, used by people who identified with it. It earned mainstream attention after the 2016 Pulse massacre in Orlando, which happened during a “Latin Night” promotion at the gay nightclub.
A few months before Pulse, I heard “Latinx” for the first time at Long Beach Zine Fest, when an audience member asked what I thought about the term. I said if someone wanted me to refer to them as Latinx, I would.
That’s about as magnanimous as the discussion around “Latinx” ever got.
Although it’s now a staple at college campuses and in progressive circles, a 2020 Pew Research Center study found that three-quarters of Latinos hadn’t even heard of “Latinx” and only 3% used it.
The pushback by Latinos across age and political groups has been relentless and frequently derisive. Opponents claim that people should spend their time on more important issues and that no one should have terminology imposed on them–that “Latinx” is too tied to an LGBT identity, too hard to pronounce, and that no “real” Latino uses it, whatever the hell that means.
Full column here.
