Former White House propagandist Sarah Huckabee Sanders was sworn in as Governor of Arkansas just two weeks ago and she’s already launched an attack on LGBTQ+ people.
Related: Sarah Huckabee Sanders went on “The View” this morning and OMG you guys
One of Sanders’ very first acts as the chief executive of the fourth poorest state in the nation was to ban state agencies from using the gender-neutral term “Latinx.”
Per AP:
How about we take this to the next level?
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Sanders called the word “culturally insensitive” in an order that’s prompted complaints from some critics who view it as yet another attack by Republicans on the LGBTQ community. Yet her move may have limited impact, given that the word does not appear to be widely used in Arkansas government.
It was among several orders the 40-year-old former White House press secretary signed within hours of taking office that were cheered by conservatives, including restrictions on teaching critical race theory in public schools and banning TikTok on state devices. The Latinx prohibition gives agencies 60 days to revise written materials to comply.
“One of the things as governor that I will not permit is the government using culturally insensitive words,” Sanders said after signing the order.
Related: Sarah Huckabee Sanders gets destroyed by Australian reporter who will not stand for any of her crap
All nouns in the Spanish language are gendered. In recent years, the term “Latinx” was introduced as a gender-neutral alternative to “Latino” and “Latina.” While many members of the LGBTQ+ community have welcomed the new term, others find unnecessary, and some have refused to embrace it.
Conservatives, especially those of the straight het cis white variety, have been especially triggered by the term. In response to Sanders’ order, the Log Cabin Republicans issued a statement praising her for it.
“The term Latinx is just another misguided product of the modern left’s relentless obsession with stripping gender from American life, an obsession that LGBT conservatives fight back against daily,” Charles Moran, the group’s president, said in a statement.
Related: Sarah Huckabee Sanders just completely embarrassed herself on Twitter again
Regardless of how you feel about the word “Latinx”, the fact that Sanders made this one of her first acts as governor sends a clear message: She’s not above using the power of her office to push her “anti-woke” agenda and do harm to queer people.
In an op-ed published by CNN, Ed Morales writes:
With her executive order, Sanders is making sure the debate around “Latinx” drowns out more important issues in the community. Her anti-woke rhetoric will do nothing to address the economic issues that are front and center in the minds of Latino/as in the US, including in Arkansas, one of our nation’s poorest states.
The jury is still out on “Latinx,” and the new term, “Latine.” But as long-standing homophobic prejudices dissolve and as gender identities become more diverse, perhaps an increasing amount of Latinos will opt for some sort of alternative term. This latest Sanders misstep only shows that the needs of Latinos can never be reduced to a debate over a label, or a plank of a contrived anti-woke agenda.
After signing to order, Sanders too to Twitter to crow about it.
“I banned the use of ‘Latinx’ in government because I will not permit my administration to use culturally insensitive words that greatly offend the vast majority of Hispanics,” she wrote. “No matter what the liberal corporate media says we will keep the radical left’s agenda out of Arkansas.”
I banned the use of “Latinx” in government because I will not permit my administration to use culturally insensitive words that greatly offend the vast majority of Hispanics. No matter what the liberal corporate media says we will keep the radical left’s agenda out of Arkansas. https://t.co/zni0sBkvTN
— Sarah Huckabee Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) January 22, 2023
Now, let’s check out some of the responses…
I know you’re new to Arkansas, so just a heads up, weed is not recreationally legal here. You need a prescription here before you get high and tweet.
— Dan Whitfield (@DanWhitCongress) January 23, 2023
Did you consult with members of that community before coming in as the white savior (in your mind) and banning the term?
— MamaPause (@mama_pause) January 22, 2023
Never said a cross word about her boss calling COVID the “China Virus” tho.
— The Angry Czeck (@angryczeck) January 22, 2023
‘Latinos’ is more excepted than the term Hispanics. @SarahHuckabee should read the definitions before using that term too.
— bloretta56 (@bloretta561) January 23, 2023
“Liberal corporate media” and “radical left agenda” in one tweet!
10 Maga points for you!!!
— Kierangs (@Kierangs1) January 23, 2023
You banned the use of “Latinx” because you’re pandering to the racists who made you governor.
— Phineas Gregg (@PhineasGregg) January 22, 2023
While I understand trying to maintain consistency of language, eliminating words is problematic for me.
— Katie P (@KatherinePrange) January 22, 2023
For a state with the 4th highest poverty level in the country, this shows that your priorities are out of whack, and that you’re more concerned with politics than doing the hard work of solving the state’s many problems.
— soxfan4 (@Wsoxfnj1Soxfan4) January 22, 2023
“I don’t always recognize the feelings of people of color, but when I do, it’s to excuse my transphobia.”
-The least interesting governor in the world
— Friendly White Liberal (@AnWhiLi) January 22, 2023
The use of the term Latinx was so important that it needed your attention and action? Now do homelessness, food insecurity and education.
— Trevor Crowe 🇨🇦 🐘 🌈 (@trevcrowe) January 22, 2023
LumpyPillows
The article was about Latinx and said nothing about LGBT issues. Latinx is nonsense. It is offensive to most Latino people and is completely inconsistent with the entire Spanish language. Cat and dog are also masculine in Spanish. Should they be change to fight the patriarchy? It was created by white ultra-liberals hellbent on upending everything.
dougie
Lumpy, give it a rest. But, yes, we “ultra-liberals” – whatever that is – are “hellbent on upending everything.” Literally, everything.
Den
The term originated with the progressive LGBT Latino community.
It was not created by “white ultra-liberals”, except perhaps in your imagination (sounds like they are part of the troop of bogeymen under your bed and in your closet). You are correct that it has been overwhelmingly rejected by the majority of Latinos/Hispanics, but remains in use mostly by the aforementioned progressives. I don’t know a single person of Hispanic or Latino origin (regardless of their political leanings or gender identity) who uses it.
abfab
I can only imagine that you’ve met (or known) tens of thousands of Latinos, X or otherwise, to make such an informed statement.
GlobeTrotter
@abfab: He doesn’t need to. The term “latinx” is used by only 3% of US Hispanics. It’s an entirely unknown terminology outside the United States. Source: MSNBC
abfab
Living in cable news land won’t win you any degrees. Hit the streets, hang out in the bodegas, meet the people, go to the best gay clubs in the US (LatinX Clubs). CALIENTE!
Kangol2
Shlumpy, cat and dog can be both feminine and masculine in Spanish. Do you not know this? If you say gato or gata or perro or perra/perrita to a Spanish speaker, they know the difference in genders. Same with Portuguese, French, Italian, etc. Fighting the patriarchy has nothing to do with it; at least learn the language first before you spout off.
What you might have meant to say that the male form is considered the norm, which is what Latinx or Latine, both of which were proposed by Latino/a/x/e thinkers and activists, not outsiders, is meant to rethink. “White ultra-liberals” did not create “Latinx,” so you’re incorrect again!
LumpyPillows
dougie, why should I give it a rest. Because you don’t agree? Fascist much? This kind of overreach, is why people hate us. There are ramifications for people who want to blow up every social norm they can think of. Sad that the Latino vote is shifting fast to the right. Think on that next time you want to be flippant.
Den: the Venn diagram of white ultra-liberals and progressive LGBT people approaches 100%. So, yeah. Us regular LGBT folks do not do Latinx. We do not hate CIS men. We are concerned about the intersection of trans women and women’s spaces. What many people would believe to be common sense as opposed to indoctrinated values.
Abby, well, I read. And if you bothered to look it up, the Latino community is not happy with Latinx. They didn’t invent it. Google is your friend. “According to the Pew Research Center, a thimble-sized portion of people with Latin American ancestry use the term Latinx. In August 2020, the center reported that 3 percent of respondents viewed it favorably; a year later, a Gallup poll increased that to 4 percent.”
Kangol – you got me on the cats and dogs. Latinx and Latine are made up nonsense. See above.
barryaksarben
your pathetic, her state suffers from so many GOP brought on racism and ignorance that this should be the last thing on her agenda. The GOP has controlled this state for years and it shows in its terrible schools, healthcare and every other rule of measure. NO s white man did not make up this word. I lived in La in the 70s and the latin gays in the clubs were the first time I ever heard it but like every gay culture it wasn’t even known outside the gay subculture. Like I said she is is just stroking off the hate filled trumpies and she should be ashamed if she weren’t so soulless
Stan H
She is a huge idiot. If you want to do some good then I suggest find a business in her state and place a huge order, Then before you pay for anything ask where the business is located. When they tell you Arkansas then say “Sorry I cancel.” “I will not support a hate state”.
Jim
Beyond a huge idiot. Just a common American fool.
LumpyPillows
I do not like her, but she is not an idiot. Trump is an idiot. SHS is smart and dangerous.
GlobeTrotter
How’s getting rid of a silly, made-up word, universally rejected by the Latino/Latina Community an attack on LGBTQ people? The word is disdainfully and whole-heartedly rejected by every single latino/latina individual I’ve ever talked to on the subject, as they see it as the whimsical creation of rich, white, educated liberals who then imposed the word on Spanish speaking people without their say or input. The word doesn’t even fit in with Spanish grammar or pronunciation rules, it would be like the Chinese inventing some silly Chinese sounding word and imposing it on English speakers everywhere. So just how is this an attack on LGBTQ people?
Kangol2
“It would be like the Chinese inventing some silly Chinese sounding word and imposing it on English speakers everywhere.” This is an illogical comparison.
Latino activists created the word. Most speak English and Spanish. They are not “imposing” the word on a language they don’t speak or understand. Moreoever, Chinese and English are poles apart as far as languages go. The word “Latino” is a word both in English and Spanish (and Portuguese, for that matter). You should admit that you don’t understand why the term was created, by Latinos, what it means, and why it’s used, not only in the US but elsewhere. (“Latine” is a similar term.)
GlobeTrotter
According to my sources, the word was NOT created by Spanish speakers, hence the incompatibility of the word with the pronunciation and grammatical rules of the Spanish language. This is precisely the problem that most Spanish speakers have with the word. It doesn’t follow the rules of Spanish pronunciation and it can’t be declined or conjugated in Spanish. Most likely the word was happily accepted by certain Spanish speaking progressives, but this occurred AFTER its invention and imposition by liberal, non-Spanish speaking academics.
Thanks for the Spanish lesson, but I’ve been speaking Spanish since grade school and have travelled extensively all over South America (did an exchange semester in Venezuela as a teenager) and Europe (where I now live), especially the Germanic and Latin regions. Outside the US, the term “latinx” is either unknown or flatly rejected as a bastardized cultural imposition from America’s liberal and politically correct elite. NOT ONE of my numerous gay, educated and liberal Portuguese, Spanish or US Hispanic friends use the term.
My good college friend José, a California high school teacher from New York of Dominican Republic descent with 2 Master’s degrees, very gay and very liberal, RAILS against its usage and considers it the height of cultural imperialism. So I think my sources regarding this word are pretty rock solid.
LumpyPillows
It is imposed language from the far left. It is a battle we would be best served to abandon, just like Defund Police, but we won’t because this is about purity of enforced thought. Reminds me a bit of Pol Pot, Mao most religions and a whole bunch of thought police.
Like many of the dangerous dogma I bristle against from the right and left, the word was created by a couple of people in a liberal bubble, with the intent of attacking the male patriarchy; which is already dead (the real threat always has been and continues to be concentrated wealth, not men). It was then taken up by the woke Internet and promoted by right wing think tanks because it was so offensive to so many Latinos for being tone-deaf to their culture. Why do I call it dogma? Because you people will defend it no matter what, like a religion, even if it is harmful to our overall cause. Dogma.
Kangol2
GlobeTrotter, you are incorrect. It was not imposed by non-Spanish speakers and is not “universally rejected.” It was created by Latino academics and activists. I take your word on your Dominican-American friend’s education and background, but whether he likes the term or not, it was created by Latinos in the US, not imposed by outsiders. I get that you and many don’t like the term, but it was created specifically as a term for LGBTQ Latinos. I didn’t create it and I’m not making this up. It’s DOCUMENTED.
As the Merriam-Webster Dictionary of American English“ notes:
“Latinx was originally formed in the early aughts as a word for those of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don’t want to be identified by gender. More than likely, there was little consideration for how it was supposed to be pronounced when it was created. Nevertheless, people have attempted to assign some pronunciations to it. The most common way to pronounce Latinx is the same way you would Spanish-derived Latina or Latino but pronouncing the “x” as the name of the English letter X. So you get something like \luh-TEE-neks\.”
Latinx is used generally as a gender-neutral term for Latin Americans, but it has been especially embraced by members of Latin LGBTQ communities as a word to identify themselves as people of Latin descent possessing a gender identity outside the male/female binary.
“The male/female binary is inherent in the Spanish language, which lacks a neuter noun form. Thus, nouns are either masculine, generally indicated by an “-o” ending (Latino), or feminine, indicated by “-a” (Latina). The same applies to Portuguese and other Western Iberian languages.”
“Latinx purposefully breaks with Spanish’s gendered grammatical tradition. X signifies something unknown and is used in Latinx to connote unspecified gender. A similar use of “x” is in Mx., a gender-neutral title of courtesy that is used in place of gendered titles, such as Mr. and Ms. It has been suggested that the use of “x” in Mx. influenced Latinx.”
LumpyPillows
96% of Latinos reject this. How entitled are you to insist they use Latinx or Latine? That is what entitlement and cultural appropriation looks like. Doesn’t matter what you cut an paste.
Den
Like the proverbial broken clock, the grotesque (in so many ways) Sanders is correct about the dislike for the term “latinx” among the hispanic/latino community in the US. However making a big deal about banning it is idiotic. People can simply choose not to use it as is generally the case.
More important is the new Arkansas law that essentially bans drag shows/story hours, or any sort of performance by trans people if seen by children, even accidentally. This in a state with the some of the lowest metrics for educational quality, among the highest school drop out rates, and one of the highest rates of poverty in the nation! She will clearly be a disaster for the state, and will likely line her pockets given the corruption and hypocrisy we expect from “Christians” like her.
Fahd
This sort of demagogic pandering: manufacturing a “wedge-issue” and firmly taking the “anti-progressive’ side is done much better by Russian propaganda. What’s-her-name, despite her training in the guy’s administration, isn’t and has never been very good at it.
Let’s hope she doesn’t spend all of her time on this sort of crap. Arkansas has some real social problems such as adult illiteracy and childhood obesity to name just two. But I guess people get the government they deserve in the end.
Also, shout out to the people trying to take the gender bias out of the Spanish language; I’ll be back in a few lifetimes to check your progress.
LumpyPillows
You are right. Sanders is jumping on something stupid the left did for political points. Not only were we stupid to do it, those of you wanting to die on this hill make it worse.
Just.my.opinion
Sarah Sanders is such an embarrassment to the state of Arkansas – just as she was an embarrassment to the entire country when she “worked” in Washington. May God have mercy on all the stupid people who voted for her.
Mack
Unfortunately they’re not smart enough to know they’re stupid.
abfab
I had her totally wiped from my memory and then you had to bring her back. Awful.
Mister P
Too bad she doesn’t have any ideas to make Arkansas thrive and be better.
Republicans have no ideas, they just dislike the ideas of others.
LumpyPillows
While you are probably correct, she’s been in office 3 weeks. Maybe she can fix some things in Arkansas. Unlikely, but we shall see.
bachy
For some incomprehensible reason, conservatives are unable to recognize how precious we are, and continue to reject all the new terms we continually generate which serve to distinguish us from the common, unexceptional masses content with being described as “men and women.”
abfab
At this very moment she is chowing down on GMO chickens and cows and tater tots and sloppy joes and po boys (ick) on the strip in Little Rock, which I can only imagine looks like one dystopian hell hole.
She cares not what we think. She’s too busy consuming crap.
LumpyPillows
I think you missed the tongue in cheek post bachy made. As far as fat shaming Sarah, you have fallen into the trap of applying liberal rules only to people you like.
Kangol2
Arkansas is one of the poorest states in the US, with an economy that lags behind the national average, despite have demographics comparable to other nearby states, particular Tennessee, Alabama, etc. (It is smaller than both of them.) Instead of addressing the pressing social and economic issues Arkansas and its residents are facing, Huckabee Sanders has decided she going to engage in garbage politics like banning “Latinx.” And go against drag queens, etc. OK, fine. So now what? That isn’t going to help the people of Arkansas, except for nutting right-wing extremists, one bit. It won’t create more jobs, it won’t lower the cost of goods and services, it won’t increase workers’ pay, it won’t make housing or education more affordable, it won’t do anything but underscore how worthless this woman and far too many in the GQP really are.
abfab
Your’re preaching to the choir, honey.
abfab
Cats and Dogs. Perhaps she should go back to Tip and Mitten and start all over again. Time for a new pillow, Lumpy. Call the Pillow Guy. He’d love you!
LumpyPillows
To quote a brilliant person above: “You are right. Sanders is jumping on something stupid the left did for political points. Not only were we stupid to do it, those of you wanting to die on this hill make it worse.”
GrizzleyMichael
God another fat ugly bitch trying to be cool.
ChrisSoBe
Yes, it’s political grandstanding. But regardless, I think we need to have words that are more palatable and easier for the broader public to understand. Latinos/as don’t like the term Latinx. I personally disdain the word “they” for nonbinary and other identities. It’s a plural word that doesn’t fit an explanation of one body. Imagine a firefighter or first responder being told “they” are in a burning building (or is the proper, yet again improper language “they is” in there? ) and the first responder gets confused and potentially wastes precious time that could result in harm to that responder? It’s not too farfetched. Use “zee” but forcing pronouns like “they” into the standard Lexicon is why there is more heightened backlash. Just as the term “defund the police” became the worst rallying phrase that never got vetted, insisting on more confusing and culturally queasy words is not helping to move the cause forward.
LumpyPillows
Stop making sense! They will come for you: the new left thought police…
Godabed
Who in their right mind would live in any state that would vote for her. If you didn’t have an unwelcome sign before that should have been a bright Neon light for you to vacate.
LumpyPillows
The better question you all should be asking is why did 63% of voters pick her? What is it that they dislike about the democrat who ran against her? What is it that leads these poor, underserved people of a crap state to vote against their own best interests? Could it be they hate us so much? If so, what is it that they hate about us. Nonsense like Latinx…one of a list of many unlikable things the left insist on requiring.
Why did Sarah do this? Because it resonates with the Hispanic population shifting to republicans. See, nonsense outside our bubble has ramifications. Which is why I do not give it a rest.
Kangol2
OK, since Lumpy asked the question of why 63% of Arkansas voters selected this horrible woman, let’s look at the demographics of that state, from Wikipedia: “Per the 2019 census estimates, Arkansas was 72.0% non-Hispanic white, 15.4% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% Asian, 0.4% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.1% some other race, 2.4% two or more races, and 7.7% Hispanic or Latin American of any race.[84]
In 2011, the state was 80.1% white (74.2% non-Hispanic white), 15.6% Black or African American, 0.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.3% Asian, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 6.6% of the population.[85] As of 2011, 39.0% of Arkansas’s population younger than age 1 were minorities.”
From Business Insider: “Arkansas backed former President Donald Trump over President Joe Biden with a nearly 28 percentage point margin of victory in 2020. Since 1972, the state has sided with Republicans in 10 of 13 presidential elections, and in recent elections has become decidedly red, with the Republican margin of victory increasing in each of the last five elections.”
It is NOT Latino (how’s that) voters who are backing this horrible woman, nor Black voters, but White voters overwhelmingly choosing right-wing Republicans like Huckabee Sanders and her father. So rather than claiming that her banning “Latinx” somehow addresses the concerns of Latinos (how’s that?) in Arkansas, the reality is that with this move, alongside ones against “drag queens,” etc., she is playing to the fears and wishes of conservative White voters, who are the major voting bloc in Arkansas.
LumpyPillows
Kang, you danced around the point. Actually you purposefully confused two different but related points. The Latino vote drifted noticeably towards republicans in 2022. I can’t find it, but I bet Sarah got more Latino vote than Trump did in 2020. Latinos generally fall into a lower and middle class demographic that should not vote for republicans. Why did they do it? I really want to know why you think they did it. What is it that makes them move away from Democrats? That is my underlying concern. If the opposite was true, that 96% of Latinos approve of Latinx, I would have no problem.
Yes, I understand the overall racial demographics of Arkansas. Not sure what your point was with all that. The issue is lower and middle class people voting for a conservative republican. Why would that do that?
Why was Sarah smiling so broadly while she signed this? Because it is popular outside your liberal bubble. It’s easy. You insist 96% of Latinos who do not like Latinx should embrace it. That is really insensitive and woke gone wrong. It’s doubling down on losing dogma, which is what the woke left always does. Still want to defund police? No one wants Latinx, except tone deaf social warriors bent on offending everyone. I wouldn’t care if it didn’t hurt really important issues. Latinx is so not important to be laughable if it weren’t such a nice weapon to beat us with. Do you get why Sarah did it now? Of course not.
JustMuscles1
Why are you bringing up super old View clips especially of McCain? What Huckabee is doing is pathetic enough and speaks for itself. Plus, The View, as entertaining as they can be— are mostly annoying!
TomOH
If being gay was a choice, she would be among the number one reasons for it.
JJinAus
If you live in these awful places. Move. Seriously. Before you have a go at me consider this. I moved countries AND continents. Je ne regrette rien.
Kangol2
I’m glad you were able to move. But not everyone in the US is rich or even middle class and can just pick up and leave a state. People also may have a range of challenges (family issues, health, mental health, etc.) that keep them living in a particular state or region of the US. I can’t speak to social and economic mobility in Australia, but millions of people in the US effectively are stuck these days, so they don’t have the option to just pick up and move.
rickster58761
Are there not more pressing issues to confront in Arkansas??? She’s pitiful.
Karlis
What’s the point of the headline? There’s nothing LGBTQ+ about the terminology of gender in Spanish. That said, I guess the governor doesn’t see anything more important in her state than to raise a fuss about terminology. That’s Republicans for you. They haven’t had a new idea since about 1992, and so they spend all their time on stupid culture wars. It’s a wonder to me how these clowns win elections.
LumpyPillows
Totally right that the headline is wrong. Why do they fight the culture wars? Because the left makes it an easy win for them with things like Latinx.
Jimmynj
I’m sure the people of Arkansas are proud of the Miss Piggy lookalike they elected.