The Term Latinx: Inclusivity Issues

The article titled Stop using Latinx if you really want to be inclusive was authored by Melissa Ochoa on September 25, 2022. It highlights the emergence of the term Latinx in the US for inclusivity purposes, its bad ratings in Spanish-speaking regions, its popularity among scholars, why its practice should cease, and an alternative term that makes more sense. Despite being popular in the US, Latinx spreading to Spanish-based countries has only led to government bans and disapproval from the masses (Ochoa, 2022). Data shows that a small population uses the term to identify with their Hispanic roots, but still, Latinx seems to gain momentum amongst scholars (Ochoa, 2022). The word came into existence to foster inclusivity but its application furthers elitism and not the agendas of marginalized Spanish-speaking communities. The author also poses that she finds the term unnatural because it comes nowhere close to the Spanish languages utility (Ochoa, 2022). It provides an avenue for the conclusion of the article in which she poses an alternative term, Latine, pronounced as La-teen-eh, (Ochoa, 2022). The justification for the new term lies in its alignment with the Spanish vocabulary.

Relation to Civil Liberties

From a civil liberties point of view, the term Latinx should stand because it allows a small minority of gender-neutral persons to find an identity that makes them feel like they belong. Civil liberties exist for the protection of the people against extreme government action. When a government feels it can clamp down on these rights and ban the use of the Latinx term, it is an instance of discrimination that oppresses this group of minorities. The article stipulates that it is a term that does not deliver on the promise of inclusivity. There is less acceptability of the word among the populace and the political elite, with the ones brave enough to use it seemingly losing out in the last elections (Paz, 2021). With consideration of what civil liberties represent, the term Latinx aims to offer more inclusion for individuals who do not conform within the bounds of the more binary Spanish community. The community acknowledges people as Latina or Latino, and on a grander scale, there is the term Hispanic which does not lean towards any gender.

My Informed Opinion

Given that the term Latinx takes nothing away from the existing terms, there is no reason why those who opt to adapt should face discrimination. The acceptability among the younger generation shows it is still a new trend that will take time to become a staple term. The development of the word was a result of some individuals failing to self-identify with the available Spanish terms. It offers a gender-free platform for those who identify as non-binary and remains a progressive development for society, despite statistics that it is a consistently disapproved term (Gonzalez, 2021). Unlike when labels such as Negroes were designated to people based on their ancestry, Latinx offers the Spanish-speaking non-binary community a freeing path to self-identification. It causes no offense, and yet, by asking individuals today about their reaction to the term, the majority might find it undesirable. It is the response that everything new gets when it threatens to bring change to a community. With time, it will become easier to embrace this development as the LGBTQ+ community gains further traction in their continued campaign for equal rights.