LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — One of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ first acts as governor of Arkansas was to ban most state agencies from using the gender-neutral term Latinx, tapping into a debate that has divided Hispanics along generational lines. .
Sanders called the word “culturally insensitive” in an order that drew complaints from some critics who see it as another GOP attack on the LGBTQ+ community. However, Sanders’ order could have limited impact, as the word is apparently not widely used in the Arkansas government.
It was one of several orders the 40-year-old former White House press secretary signed within hours of taking office that were applauded by conservatives, including restrictions on teaching critical race theory. in public schools and the ban on TikTok on state devices. The Latinx ban gives agencies 60 days to review written materials to comply.
“One of the things that as governor I will not allow is for the government to use culturally insensitive words,” Sanders said as she signed the order.
The term Latinx emerged in recent years as a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina, since all nouns in Spanish are gendered. Many in the Latino LGBTQ+ community have embraced the word, but it has been slow to catch on, with some saying the term is unnecessary.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the oldest Hispanic civil rights group in the United States, announced in 2021 that it would no longer use the term Latinx. The group declined to comment on Sanders’ order.
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego of Arizona also said that year that his staff were not allowed to use the term in official communications.
“When Latino politicians use the term, it’s usually to pander to wealthy white progressives who think that’s the term we use,” Gallego tweeted in 2021.
The Log Cabin Republicans group, which represents LGBT+ Republicans, applauded Sanders’ order.
“The term Latinx is just another misnomer of the modern left’s relentless obsession with removing gender from American life, an obsession that LGBT+ conservatives resist on a daily basis,” Charles Moran, the group’s president, said in a statement.
