I went for a walk the other day and someone was verbally harassing me. It was great to see a BLM sign in a nearby yard and feel like I could run to that house and likely get support if needed. The vast majority of Hispanic/Latino/Latinx people don't care, but every Latinx queer person I know prefers Latinx... and shouldn't the opinion of the people most impacted matter most? While words are way less powerful than action, they do still have power, and just because words aren't a big step, doesn't mean I want to discourage small steps in the right direction. Sometimes these are missteps or not quite on target, and it doesn't mean I want people to stop trying. I know impact is more important than intention - and I also appreciate people who care enough to try, even if their impact isn't always what I'd hope.
Great points all! I really don't want to come down on one side of the Latino/Latinx debate, partly because I'm definitely not a person who should have a strong opinion about it and partly because "Latinx" really is useful for queer or nonbinary Latinx people. And we should all try to use the words that the people the words are describing want us to use.
I went for a walk the other day and someone was verbally harassing me. It was great to see a BLM sign in a nearby yard and feel like I could run to that house and likely get support if needed. The vast majority of Hispanic/Latino/Latinx people don't care, but every Latinx queer person I know prefers Latinx... and shouldn't the opinion of the people most impacted matter most? While words are way less powerful than action, they do still have power, and just because words aren't a big step, doesn't mean I want to discourage small steps in the right direction. Sometimes these are missteps or not quite on target, and it doesn't mean I want people to stop trying. I know impact is more important than intention - and I also appreciate people who care enough to try, even if their impact isn't always what I'd hope.
Great points all! I really don't want to come down on one side of the Latino/Latinx debate, partly because I'm definitely not a person who should have a strong opinion about it and partly because "Latinx" really is useful for queer or nonbinary Latinx people. And we should all try to use the words that the people the words are describing want us to use.