(LibertySociety.com) – After years of resistance from Republicans and Independents, in addition to reputable research centers taking the initiative to poll the public on the matter, some Democrats are changing course when it comes to using the term “Latinx” to address Latin Americans. Many members of the Biden administration repeatedly use the term. However, Bendixen & Amandi International conducted a poll on the subject back in 2021, and the results were staggering. With 800 Hispanics and Latinos polled, only 2% identified themselves as Latinx.
Another massive finding from the survey is notable given the recent efforts by five Hispanic Democrat Connecticut state lawmakers to “ban” the term on official government documents. The Bendixen & Amandi International poll found that 40% of the people who responded to the poll were actually offended by the term, and 30% said they would most likely be unsupportive of candidates who use the term. Other Democrat lawmakers have expressed their concerns about the use of Latinx in the past, including Democrat Representative Ruben Gallego from Arizona. According to The New York Post, he said in 2021 stated that “Hispanic, Latin American are gender-neutral.” Activists who have pushed the term have cited the gender neutrality of Latinx as the reasoning for using it.
In January of 2022, newly elected Governor of Arkansas, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, unabashedly took the initiative to ban the term on government documents in an executive order. Now, it seems Democrats in Connecticut are taking steps to nail the term in its coffin as well by introducing a bill in the state House of Representatives to ban it in the Connecticut General Assembly. The bill, known as HB 6384, is intended to bar state agencies from using the term “Latinx” in any official communications.
Connecticut state Representative Geraldo Reyes, a Democrat and the main sponsor of the bill, told CT Insider that Sanders inspired him to take action and that the term “hasn’t sat well with people” for a long time. He added that Puerto Ricans find it to be offensive as well as derogatory.
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