![\"During](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WTX-Raul-Salazar-Puente-_-Luisa-Justo-Dongo_web.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&quality=89&ssl=1\")
\u201cBut the term X for my own cultural reference goes back to Malcolm X and using the X as rejection of colonization as a form of filing in an unknown piece of history, personal history, cultural history and also the letter X sounds different in English than it does in Spanish,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t have the same association, as far as how folks in my world identify with all of the above, depending on their awareness of and inclusion of gender is beyond the binary but most folks I know actually will revert to their specific culture or ethnic identity.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gomez, who is half Mexican, identifies with the term Mestizo or Chicano rather than Latin X, which is a prime example of all panelists agreeing that within Latin culture, one refers primarily to where they or their family are from geographically. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sylvia Vargas, Openhouse SF\u2019s Director of Community Engagement Programs, who is also half Mexican and identifies as Chicana or Mexican, said it varies because when she travels to Mexico she feels like an outcast. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI grew up in the generation of \u2018Hispanic\u2019 because that\u2019s what was on the paperwork, that\u2019s the box you would check in school or what have you and having a father born in Mexico and a mother born in Salinas, California. Going to Tijuana it felt like I didn\u2019t belong in either place because I could never speak Spanish with my cousins,\u201d Vargas said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For her, Latinx seems more of a label she doesn\u2019t completely identify with due to her upbringing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor my family, they would not know what Latin X means and they would look at me like \u2019what\u2019s the matter with you?\u2019 you\u2019re Mexican, you\u2019re chicana,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dana Arango, housing and resource navigator for Openhouse SF, also grew up in a similar setting as Vargas, where her family uses Hispanic or Mexican, but feels no connection to the term Hispanic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe were colonized through the Spaniards and I feel no connection to the Spanish roots that I may have, so I choose not to use Hispanic and going to school I met other folks who didn\u2019t connect to Hispanic either and we connect more to Latinos or Latinas,\u201d Arango said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Within the Spanish-speaking community, some people introduce themselves simply by which country they are from and nothing else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs soon as they hear me speak Spanish they are like \u2018de donde eres?\u2019 and we connect like this: \u2018Yo soy de Nicaragua or El Salvador or Guatemala,\u2019 and we are excited to share this with each other,\u201d Arango said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Arango uses Latinx and Latina interchangeably wherever she feels most comfortable embracing that side of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All panelists agreed that identification has changed over time and however, people identified were valid through that period. The key thing is to take pride in identity and heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of these factors affect the term we use gender, generation, identity, privilege or access to information and it\u2019s important for the future generations to understand that,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cNice to see the current generation of folks reaching back to ancient knowledge and wisdom that understands that there are more than two genders in the world amongst humans and to be aware and intentional about making space for that language.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By now, chances are that you\u2019ve heard the term \u201cLatinx.\u201d And the opinions on the word are plenty. On May 15, Openhouse SF \u2014 an LGBTQ Senior Center in San Francisco \u2014 hosted a multigenerational panel \u201cWhy the X? Latinx Examined,\u201d discussing the term and its use in today\u2019s society. Latinx was first seen online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":56336,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"hidden","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3929],"tags":[14496],"coauthors":[23942],"class_list":["post-56333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","tag-latinx","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"During](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eltecolote.org\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/WTX-Panelist-Dana-Arango-_-Participant-Donna-Persona_web.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&quality=89&ssl=1\")