Lawmakers in Connecticut are seeking to ban the term “Latinx” from official government documents, saying the “woke” term is offensive to Spanish speakers.
The proposed bill, sponsored and put forth by five Hispanic Democratic state representatives, argues the gender-neutral replacement term for “Latino” and “Latina” is not a Spanish word and is “offensive” to the Puerto Rican constituents in the state, the Associated Press (AP) reported Thursday. Rep. Geraldo Reyes Jr. of Waterbury is the bill’s chief sponsor.
“I’m of Puerto Rican descent and I find it offensive,” he told the outlet. “The Spanish language, which is centuries old, defaults to Latino for everybody. It’s all-inclusive. They didn’t need to create a word, it already exists.”
Democratic-backed Connecticut bill would ban ‘Latinx’ term (from @AP) https://t.co/GRUC02u0wV
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Maia Gil’Adi, an assistant professor of “Latinx and Multiethnic Literature” at Boston University, offered a different perspective. She argued the term “Latinx” can be traced back to queer culture in the 1990s and is more inclusive than “Latino,” according to AP.
“The word Latino is incredibly exclusionary, both for women and for non-gender conforming people,” she told the outlet. “And the term Latinx is really useful because of the way it challenges those conceptions.”
Reyes anticipates the proposed bill will be presented and heard before the Government Administration and Elections Committee during the Democratic-controlled legislature’s current session, AP reported.
Connecticut will follow Arkansas’ lead if the bill is passed. Newly-elected Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in January banned the term “Latinx” from official state government use. (RELATED: POLL: Only 2% Of Hispanic Voters Identify As ‘Latinx’, Many Find The Term Offensive)
Domingo García, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), one of the oldest Latino civil rights groups in the U.S., directed the organization to drop the use of “Latinx” in December, NBC News reported. “The reality is there is very little to no support for its use and it’s sort of seen as something used inside the Beltway or in Ivy League tower settings,” Garcia told the outlet, arguing the term is “very unliked” by nearly all Latinos.