Law suits ensue after Buenos Aires bans gender neutral language in classrooms
Argentina joins the ranks of cities, states, and countries that are attempting to legislate on the way we speak about gender in schools. Local officials in Buenos Aires are currently being sued over the passing of recent legislation that bans teachers from using gender-neutral language in classrooms. Specific terms being targeted include ‘chicas’ ‘chiqxz’, and ‘chiques’.
The local officials in question explained the ban as necessary because, according to them, these terms are confusing to children and could potentially be the reason why Buenos Aires is currently experiencing a drop in exam results. The local officials provided no research or evidence to support their claim.
The Founder of the Argentinian LGBT Federation, Maria Rachid, spoke to The Telegraph on the issue. Rachid said, “The city government could not explain how the prohibition of the use of non-exclusive language in schools would violate city and national laws.
“We are completely convinced that we are going to win this case,” she stated.
Prior to this, Argentina had made positive steps to recognize its non-binary community. In July 2021, Argentina became the first Latin American country to allow non-binary people to change their gender on their passports. They joined the ranks of countries that are now providing a third gender category “X” on the country’s National Identity Document and official passports.
At the time, Argentina’s president Alberto Fernandez said, “There are other identities besides that of man and woman, and they must be respected.”
At this time, no mention of learning loss caused by the pandemic has been raised as a possible reason for the drop in test scores. While school systems around the world are still collecting all the necessary data to paint an accurate picture of just how deep that learning loss was, it is no secret that losses occurred all around the globe.
Stay tuned as more information on this breaking story comes to light.
