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Use Latine Instead of LatinX

Let’s get some things laid out.

LatinX is unusable in spanish. Literally. Also when you try to spread it to words, like amigxs. How do you say that. How.

LatinX is reverse appropriation. It’s explained best in this article here: http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/latinoa-latinx-latine-solving-spanish-gender-problem?page=0%2C1

LatinX is inherently anglicized and americanized in nature. It’s literally unusable in Spanish!!!! The term is literally a reapplication of the gender-neutral(gn) title Mx. (in reference to the gendered Ms., Mr., Mrs., etc.). That works just fine in English, but not for Spanish. It’s unnatural and I’ve never liked it.

X is rarely used in Spanish btw. It’s mainly used in the form of indigenous words like ‘Xochitla’ and ‘Xochitlicacan’.

Let’s use Latine instead. The ‘e’ is already used as a gender-neutral vowel in spanish for words like ‘estudiante’(student). There’s also the gn pronoun ‘elle’ in Spanish that differs from ‘ella’ and ‘ellos’.

It’s actually usable in Spanish! For example, instead of the unpronouncable ‘amigxs’, we can say ‘amigues’. Easy to start using. Easy to pronounce. Overall just better.

LatinX may work for the American latines, but what about the latinoamericanos who literally live in spanish speaking countries? Latinx is usable in English, but latines don’t all speak English, and they most certainly don’t all live in an English-speaking country. And maybe, just maybe, they want something that’s made with their best interest in mind. And not these trophy points of inclusivity that seem to be going around.

BTWL I’m a Latine/a. So don’t say I can’t talk about this. I’m exactly who should be talking about this.

Sources and references:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latinx#Similar_terms

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/latinx-elitist-some-push-back-word-s-growing-use-n957036

https://www.spectrumsouth.com/wont-use-latinx/

http://www.latina.com/lifestyle/our-issues/latinoa-latinx-latine-solving-spanish-gender-problem?page=0%2C1

#latine #latinx #latina #latino #latines #lgbtq #lgbtq community #lgbtqiia+#lgbtq inclusive #lgbtqiap #queer #queer latine #queer latines #queer latinas #queer latinos #inclusivity #inclusion

Whitesplaining In My Creative Writing Class

As you may or may not know, I am a queer Chicano/Latino writer and am currently finishing up my undergrad at UCLA as an English major. I am a transfer student so I haven’t had as much time to take different courses, having to focus on the ones I need to graduate. I have been wanting to take a creative writing workshop since I’ve got here but you have to apply to them and they often have around 100+ applicants. This quarter, however, I decided to apply and I got into the one taught by a queer Latino professor I really admire.

Our ten week course required that we write 5-10 shorter works and 2 longer pieces. For my first long piece, I was inspired both by both my Magical Realism class I’m currently taking and a ‘Queer Latino Literature and HIV/AIDS’ class I previously took. I decided to write about a queer Latino mortician in Los Angeles at the peak of the AIDS crisis in the late 80’s. The magical realist twist was that this character has the ability to see the memories of corpses that he touches. There is also a little love story woven in between two Latino men. I really am proud of this work because I did a lot of research and it was just a really important subject to me. Now I had to hear what my classmates had to say.

The way our course worked was that the class was given my story a week in advance and they had that week to annotate my work and write a full page of criticism about it. Then we discussed their thoughts about my story and gave me their annotations/letter at the end of class. I was a little bit nervous but I was interested in seeing what they had to say.

As we began discussing it, I got very helpful critiques. I overused a specific word, certain parts were a little unclear and my tenses were really inconsistent. Then, however, a gay white guy in class decided to open his mouth and speak pretty much out of his own lane. He said “ I don’t really think you represented the marginalized groups, specifically people of color realistic enough. It was a really tragic time but your story is trying to convince us that it was a beautiful time. It wasn’t. And I really just think it needed to be more queer.” He said this all while smiling, as if it was the most helpful advice.

Let me translate this for you. What he was saying was “You need to make the story that focuses on queer people of color who died during the AIDS crisis more tragic. We need some more darkness.” He wanted some sort of marginalized tragedy porn.

Reminder: My story is about a queer latino who has to handle the bodies, specifically Black and Brown bodies, of those who died from AIDS complications. It also focused on how beautiful they were, in their memories and even in death. Death could not take that away from them, and the main character didn’t want their beauty (not just physical but overall beauty) to be forgotten. It was already fucking sad and tragic. It just was MORE than that. It celebrates their lives too. That wasn’t good enough for him, I guess.

My professor stopped him from going on, saying he wasn’t making sense and that he especially didn’t know what “more queer” even means. It got worse, though, when I got home and read his annotations and letter criticism. Aside from rude/sarcastic comments like “I mean… okay” he also continued his whiteness overload.

He said “Love/grief/moving-on stories are dominated by a straight white male population and to write in their mode is, imo, an acquiescence to the kind of heteronormativity we want to be dismantling. Your story needs to be more radical. Give me something that doesn’t feel like acceptance. Try to move away from a love story that could be told by str8 people and make one that feels different because gay Latinos, now but esp then, were forced to be different."

My story about HIV/AIDS, death, and two Latinos in love in LA in the 80’s isn’t???? radical??? enough?? I’m??? And what even does “write in their mode” mean?? The moment I make the story queer, it is nothing like any past love stories. I just do not know how he has the audacity to say any of these things. He said other things like “do Latinos even call themselves Latino?” and “Why are you describing these corpses as beautiful, AIDS made us disgusting!” and I’m like????? Who hurt this white man??? Who told him he had the right to say any of these things to me?

I talked about this to my professor in his office because I was so upset. My leg was uncontrollably shaking the entire time, cos I was so mad. My professor was dumbfounded by his comments and said next week he would say something about how we talk about race in writing and in class, which he did. But then he said something that really touched my heart.

He saw how upset I was and said to me: “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about, literally. He think he does but it’s very apparent he doesn’t. Your story was beautifully written and handed with care. You can tell that you did your research and have a personal stake in the topic. Listen to me now. From one gay Latino to another, your story was beautiful and you should be proud of it.”

Hearing those words made me pretty emotional. It was a really sweet thing for him to say, especially since I look up to him so much. I still can’t believe the things that white guy said but I just have to remember who I wrote my story for and why I wrote it. It’s definitely not for him.

#creative writing #whitesplaining #queer latinos #the boy who cried books #joseph j rey #my writing

Celebratory dance! #5Years

#boyfriends #qpoc #queer Latinos #me #black gay slay

A video where I discuss the zine I made about Queer Latinos in YA LIt!!

#watch share support yas #queer #queer ya #qpoc #booktube #queer latinos #youtube #mine

When I first met this lindo, i had no idea we'd end up together, let alone fall in love. I'm grateful every day for making us work. Love is the best blessing in the world. May our love continue to grow stronger. Happy anniversary! #5years #IRememberWhenIFirstSawYou P.S we always look so good together ❤️💙❤️💙

#me #boyfriends #qpoc #queer Latinos #black gay love #black gay slay

Queer Colombian Salvadoran Alejandro Varela is one of my favorite living writers. His work weaves together comedy and tragedy as if it was the easiest thing in the world. His first novel, The Town of Babylon, is about growing up queer and brown in a place where neither is possible. His second book, The People Who Report More Stress, begins with a short story about gay hookups at the U.N. I had the honor of interviewing him in mid-October when he was in Philly to promote his new book, Middle Spoon. We nerd out about the craft of writing, explore how his public health background shapes the way he sees the world, and discuss how white supremacy leaves immigrants of color blaming themselves for failing to achieve the American Dream.

Listen to the audio at qtpocart.libsyn.com.

Read the transcript at scribd.com/artactivistnia.

Support the podcast at patreon.com/artactivistnia.

#qpoc #podcast #qpoc lit #alejandro varela #queer latinos