Arkansas has banned the use of the gender-neutral term “Latinx”—and reactions show a generation divide within the community. 

Arkansas has banned the use of the gender-neutral term “Latinx”—and reactions show a generation divide within the community. Within hours of taking the office of governor of the state, Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed several orders relating BIPOC individuals, including “restrictions on teaching critical race theory in public schools,” and banning state agencies from using the term “Latinx.” The term, “a gender-neutral alternative to Latino and Latina,” is increasingly popular among younger people: According to Pew, 42% of Hispanic individuals 18-29-years-old had heard of the term, compared to 7% of those over 65-years-old. While “some Latino figures calling the term unnecessary,” Manuel Hernandez, the head of the LGBTQ group Association of Latinos/as/xs Motivating Action describes the order as “‘an attempt to erase’ the LGBTQ Latino community.” (NBC)