Defining who you are and what you identify as isn’t an open-and-shut case, Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

There is a clear boundary between what the government should and should not control, yet Republicans continuously abuse their power as politicians. Sanders is attempting to silence the Latin American community by banning the term, “Latinx.” Her hasty enactment of this baseless law is a clear indication that she disregards today’s social climate, and she’s intimidated by the growing LGBTQ platform that is advocating for their rights.

On Jan. 10, Sanders issued an executive order that banned the term “Latinx” from state documents. In her statement, she identified the term as “ethnically insensitive” and that “pejorative language has no place in official government documents.”

Coined in recent years, the term “Latinx” offers an alternative to the feminine and masculine descriptions of Latina and Latino. Due to all nouns in the Spanish language ending in “a” or “o” to signify feminine or masculine identity, Latinx includes people in the Latino community who identify as non-binary.

Limiting speech will only end up restricting conversations that are crucial to the progress of our country. The term “Latinx” gives the LGBTQ Latino community the power to express their identity. If this power is taken away, so is their power and standing as individuals in the Latino community.

This oppressive order sets the tone for what we can expect from Sanders during her term as Arkansas governor. In her attempt to stamp-out “insensitive” language, Sanders is targeting an ethnic group that makes up 8% of Arkansas’s population, with a large portion of the Latino population being respected professionals and a crucial part of the workforce. She’s deciding what terms are acceptable for the Latino community without asking the Latino community what they want. Now, some may call this insensitive. How ironic.

Yes, the Latino community has their own issues with the term “Latinx,” but it is their issue to resolve within their community. While some believe that the term allows for inclusivity in a gendered language, others argue that it’s grammatically incorrect and does not align with how the majority of the Latino community identifies themselves.

“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,” Sanders said in a tweet on Jan. 22. “No matter what the liberal corporate media says we will keep the radical left’s agenda out of Arkansas.”

The “radical left’s agenda” is not the enemy. Sanders is attempting to disguise her anti-woke agenda under the guise of respect to the Latin American community. By eliminating the term “Latinx,” she may believe she’s the white savior that the Latino community needs, but that is not the case.

As a Latina, what “greatly offends” me is how Sanders issued an executive order that will drastically alter the freedoms of the Latinx community and people who are allies to the LGBTQ community. This executive order is just another patronizing attempt by a Republican politician to diminish the power of minority groups. Whether or not to ban “Latinx” should be decided by the Hispanic community, not the former Trump secretary who spouts Republican nonsense on national television.

Supporting the notion that “Latinx” does not belong in the Latino community, Rep. Ruben Gallego spoke out against the term last December in a tweet.

“When Latino politicos use the term it is largely to appease white rich progressives who think that is the term we use,” Gallego tweeted. “It is a vicious circle of confirmation bias.”

Gallego needs to reconnect with his own Colombian and Mexican roots before he tweets another dig at “Latino politicos.” This is the issue with politicians like Gallego and Sanders, they don’t realize that the nation is evolving while they’re stuck in the out-of-touch realm of G.O.P. politics.

In the announcement made by Sanders’ administration on Jan. 10 to remove the term “Latinx” from the Arkansas state legislature, statistics played a key role. The governor cited a 2020 Pew Research Center poll on the popularity of “Latinx” within the Latino community. The poll revealed that only 3% of people who identify themselves as Latino use the term “Latinx,” and only 26% of Latinos have heard of the term.

While the Pew Research Center has long been a trusted source on delivering accurate and relevant information, excluding more recent statistics, like a Mar. 2022 poll from Axios, on how the Latino community responds to “Latinx” is a gross miscalculation on Sanders’ part. The Axios poll highlights that at least 50% felt comfortable with the term “Latinx.”

Governor Sanders, did you hear that? The Latino community is comfortable and accepts the LGBTQ community, when is it your turn?

Politicians like Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be forgotten. She may think she has done something by banning the term, “Latinx,” but the LGBTQ movement and the Latino community is so much stronger than her, and they will run her out.