Background

The Spanish language uses two grammatical genders (feminine and masculine), and with increasing social awareness around inclusive gender expression and identity, people are questioning how language can reflect those changes and become more inclusive. On that account, there are people who have adopted the use of a gender-neutral language with word endings such as "e", "@", or "x" for a more inclusive approach.

Official language-regulating bodies argue that using the traditional masculine gender form is inclusive as it encompasses all genders. Therefore, words such as Latinx are not currently found in authoritative Spanish language dictionaries.

External communications

When developing MCL public communications in Spanish, staff should adhere to the Official Multnomah County Library Spanish Style Guide. In this style guide, the masculine gender is used as the default neutral form to encompass all genders in the communication. This means that we are not using the neutral "e", "x", and "@” in external public communications for an audience whose gender is not specified.

However, it is suitable to use gender-neutral language when communicating or referring to someone, or a specific group, that uses a specific term to self identify (e.g. Latine or Chican@s); and it is recommended to use the term they or the group uses. 

Internal communications

Staff are encouraged to use gender-neutral language in internal communications as they see fit. For more information about the rationale and use of gender neutral language in MCL external communications, please refer to the Official Multnomah County Library Spanish Style Guide (pages 9-11).

Rationale 

• To promote clear communication and avoid difficulty pronouncing and reading words in Spanish such as Latine, Chican@, etc.
• To avoid confusion from readers since those terms are not widely known or used by native Spanish speakers according to a study conducted by the Pew Research Center (“About One-in-Four U.S. Hispanics Have Heard of Latinx, but Just 3% Use It”)
• To avoid polarization since the use of those terms is controversial as shown in this Wikipedia article about the term Latinx.
• To manage the rapid and constant changes in the use of those terms i.e. first using the term Latin@, Latinx, then Latine, and so forth.
• To ensure consistency of communications and access to our materials for all people who are trying to use the library by adhering to consistent editorial standards.