If you, like most people, get your news online then you've probably come across the word "latinxs". If you read the comment section of any of those articles then you will find many complaints about the use of the word latinxs. These complaints often fall into one of three categories.
The first comes from a group that is often found in any article that they deem to be about social justice (a very bad phrase in their vocabulary). This group often thinks that this word is just an example of how political correctness is ruining the world. I wish that they would read this and I could change their minds; however, I don't think that will happen.
The second type of complaint is about language and whether we can allow this made-up word to invade our daily lives. The first thing I have to say is that all words are made-up. There is no word tree where we got our words from, and if there were a word tree then we would've cut it down and used it to print a book with all of our new words. Language has never been static, we are constantly adding words and meanings. The only thing that makes a word real is recognition, and it just so happens that enough people recognize the word "latinx" and have added meaning to it in order to make it real.
The third type of complaint asks whether this word is even necessary. For a very long time when we wanted to use a gender-neutral term we would either use "Latino" or "Latin@," and while there is nothing wrong with these words they're just not enough. These two words are a step in the right direction; however, they don't include people whose gender identity doesn't fall within the male-female binary.
In a language as gendered as Spanish there needs to be more room for varying gender identities and a change in the language is a step in the right direction. As our society progresses and becomes more inclusive, our language needs change as well.
