Activists sue Buenos Aires over ban on inclusive terms

THE Buenos Aires government is being sued over its attempt to ban gender neutral words in schools, in a sign that the culture war over inclusive language could be spreading to South America.

Argentinian city officials last month became one of the world’s first to bar teachers from addressing students as “chic@s”, “chiqxs” or “chiques” – nongendered words that were becoming common in place of the masculine “chicos” used for mixed-gender groups.

Activists have taken the local government to court, saying the ban violates human rights such as freedom of expression and the right to determine one’s gender and excludes people who do not identify as male or female.

After the first judicial hearing last week, María Rachid, the founder of the Argentinian LGBT Federation, one of the civil rights groups involved, said: “The city government could not explain how the prohibition of the use of nonexclusive language in schools would not violate city and national laws. We are convinced that we are going to win the case.” Local authorities say the terms are confusing for children and have argued they could be linked to a recent drop in exam results.

A transgender teacher in Buenos Aires’ Palmero neighbourhood has pledged to continue using the terms in

‘The ruling is comparable to the ban of left-handed writing under Franco’s military dictatorship’

protest, despite the city government threatening disciplinary action.

Last month, Argentina’s national education minister said the ruling was sexist, unjust and comparable to the banning of left-handed writing under Franco’s military dictatorship in Spain.

Argentina is considered one of the region’s most progressive nations, but some 70 per cent of Argentinians said in June that they opposed the use of more inclusive forms of Spanish.