Have Latino opinions on “Latinx” changed over the past few years?
(NEXSTAR) — National Hispanic Heritage Month kicked off Sept. 15, marking the 36th year of the celebration of Hispanic cultures and their contributions to the United States. As times and attitudes change, so do terminologies — and one for Hispanics, “Latinx,” has continued to be controversial among the communities it intends to serve.
New data from Pew Research Center shows while knowledge of the term has increased, its acceptance among Latino communities has not. In fact, resistance to the term from Latinos has increased.
The current most common ways Hispanic populations refer to themselves are “Hispanic,” “Latino/Latina” and “Chicano,” but the newer gender-neutral term “Latinx” attempts to be more inclusive to non-binary members of the population.
“Non-binary” means those who don’t identify as male or female: These are people who have a gender that blends elements of either, or people who identify with a gender that is neither male or female. Additionally, as the National Center for Transgender Equality says, some people don’t identify with any gender and some people’s gender identity changes over time.
Despite its good intentions, the term has yet to be integrated by most Hispanic people, data shows. And while some people’s reasonings for disliking the term may well be rooted in transphobia, for others, the issue is the word itself.
Last week, Pew researchers published a survey of 5,078 Hispanic adults to find out their awareness of “Latinx” and their feelings about it. Forty-seven percent of Hispanic adults polled said they’d heard of the term — an increase from 23% who said the same in 2019 — but 75% of those people said “Latinx” should not be used.
Meanwhile, only 4% of Latino adults surveyed said they had ever described themselves as “Latinx,” which Pew explains equates to an estimated 1.9 million people. The findings did show that Latinos who identify as LGBTQ+ are more likely to use the term (13%), at least to describe themselves.
Naysayers call the term a form of “neocolonialism,” or a way for non-Hispanic progressives to control what Latin people call themselves — in other words, a “white people thing.”
Back in 2021, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the largest Latin advocacy group, announced it would stop using the term in its official communications, with president Domingo García calling the term “something used in Ivy League tower settings.”
Overall, Pew found that the preferred term for Latinos by Latinos is Hispanic (52%), followed by Latino (29%). Fifteen percent of Latino adults polled said they had no preference.
‘Latinx’ 101
How do you pronounce it?
There are a few ways to pronounce the term, though the most common are “lah TEE nex” or “LAT in EX.”
Who is ‘Latinx’?
David Bowles, a University of Texas Río Grande Valley professor, previously told O, the Oprah Magazine, that “Latinx” is an “ethnic and cultural category focused on geography.”
In short, “Latinx” means people who originate from Spanish-speaking countries — regardless of whether or not they speak Spanish. It is possible, he says, to be Latinx but not Hispanic, as are Brazilians (who mostly speak Portuguese). Spaniards are Hispanic but not Latinx. But there are several exceptions.
What about ‘Latine’?
A different alternative to “Latinx” has emerged over the past several years, which, though still not widely accepted, appears to be less controversial than “Latinx.” It’s known as “Latine.”
As explained by Colorado State University’s Hispanic resource and support outlet El Centro, “Latine” originates in Spanish-speaking countries and was created by members of the communities who use it.
“The objective of the term is also to remove gender from Spanish, by replacing it with the gender-neutral Spanish letter E, which can already be found in words like estudiante,” El Centro says.
In The Conversation, Saint Louis University Assistant Professor Melissa K. Ochoa argues that the gender-neutral term is “better,” saying that the word does what “Latinx” aims to do without ignoring Spanish rules or alienating people who prefer to identify by nationality and find it hard to do with an “x” (“Mexicanx” or “Argentinx” feel and sound weird, she explains).
But while “Latine” is gaining traction abroad, Pew Research’s recent findings show that an overwhelming majority (79%) of U.S. Hispanics have never heard the term.
You can read the full report on Latinx awareness at Pew Research Center.