New Study Shows Term ‘Latinx’ Alienates Latino Voters

In a new study from Georgetown and Harvard Universities, it was discovered that Latino populations are less likely to vote for a candidate using the gender inclusive term “Latinx.” Even when those individuals would likely otherwise vote for a Democratic candidate, use of the term Latinx drops their polling popularity by up to 10%.

This is largely due to anti-LGBTQ+ views in the Hispanic and Latino communities. Though it is important to use gender-inclusive language, a lot of people view it as including a group that was never made salient to them before. The Spanish language is male-dominated, meaning that gendered descriptors, such as Latino, lean masculine if any amount of men are involved in the group. “Latinx” and “Latine” alike are words that have gained popularity that both neutralize the gendering of the group and further extend a sense of welcome to LGBTQ+ people.

Co-authors of the study Marcel F. Roman and Amanda Sahar d’Urso write, “Our evidence shows when (democratic) politicians—who are usually more pro-LGBTQ+ than their (Republican) political opponents—use gender-neutral group labels like ‘Latinx,’ they experience backlash from Latinos who would have otherwise supported Democratic party politicians but are negatively predisposed against LGBTQ+ people.” This bias holds true even if the candidate does not show any obvious or symbolic support of Hispanic LGBTQ+ people.

Prior research shows that use of gender-neutral language generates a more positive view of LGBTQ+ people and women, but this research did not take intersections of race and language into account, which the co-authors note. “Our evidence is consistent with (newer) literature suggesting negative predispositions toward LGBTQ+ people may motivate non-whites to adopt increasingly conservative political stances despite their marginalized position on the ethno-racial hierarchy.”

This new finding led the co-authors to produce a theory called “Identity Expansion Backlash Theory” which basically states that when politicians use inclusive group labels, already relevant members of that group who harbor negative feelings towards the newly included group may result in backlash against the politician. And, while most of the Latin population in the US has a positive view towards LGBTQ+ people, less than 3% of Latin Americans use the word “Latinx.”

While this data shows that it is not a welcome term when used by politicians, it is still very important to use gender-inclusive and queer-inclusive language. Doing so helps build community within minority communities and begin to root out queerphobia within these communities as well.