Welcome to Getting Curious, I'm Jonathan Biannese and every week I sit down for a gorgeous conversation with a brilliant expert to learn all about something that you guessed it makes me curious.

On today's episode, I'm joined by returning guest Monika Ramirez, where I ask her, what's happening today in the Latina community?

Welcome to Getting Curious, this is Jonathan Biannese, we have one of our favorite people, put your hands together for Monika Ramirez, who if you don't remember is an attorney, an author, an activist.

And then also since we talked with you won a James Beard Award. You were named one of people in Espanol's most powerful women, get out of here with that title and you're launching a festival celebrating Latinx politics, art and culture.

I'm excited to catch up, I miss you to pieces and also, you know, because this is like a podcast and people don't necessarily see you, you got really cute reading glasses too.

So thank you, I'm so happy to see you and you know what you've been on fire, you give me such joy. You know, I follow along with what you're doing and just so grateful for you and also grateful for the fact that they have many cute reading glasses out there.

So that's also a good thing.

You're such a dang solid person, you better work. Okay, but wait, so first off, I think listeners will be familiar with terms like Latinx, but I wonder whether you could share what they mean to you to start.

Yeah, so I think a lot of people are confused because they're like wait, was it Latino, Latina? We're not sure.

So Latinx is a term adopted really, you know, fairly recently in the United States and the reason that that word was created was because people wanted to ensure that we are recognizing and showing that we're in community with and solidarity with non binary and LGBTQI people and the Spanish language is a very gendered language.

Latino, Latina, that doesn't include everyone and Latin A was actually the term that was created in Latin America because X isn't actually usually used in Spanish regularly.

And so that the Latin A term kind of emerged around the same time, but it derived from Latin America and Latin X was a term here in the United States is being used, but both of them are being used to make sure that we are embracing our non binary Latin X siblings.

I think I'm having to have a lot of those conversations of like why birthing people and like people who give birth is like a good thing and it's just like factual inclusive language like it's not being like an on fire progressive.

Well, I guess I am an on fire progressive, which I'm also proud of, but the point is is that it's just using inclusive factual language and it's good to use.

I love the development and the evolution of language and so cool it is so cool people should be able to choose how they identify they should be able to have a choice of the terminology that they feel best represents them, you know, because I'm the co fund of the Latin X house people.

I'm trying to criticize and comment and question all the time and you know myself and the co founders, Olga Segura, now it's Martinez, Kentucky, we feel really strongly that we have made a moral decision.

It is of our values to be as inclusive as we possibly can and the reality is that as you know, language changes and so in five years, it might be a different word that we're using.

But as far as we're concerned, as long as it is a word that is including everyone, not erasing people, not being exclusionary, the met those are the terms that we want to adopt and we will continue to stand behind.

So we know that the Latin A, which I want to say, let's say, and I want to say Latin X, like, why are we conforming fucking English words for like, let's deny how you as I.

And we say, let me and let next, let me actually emerge after Latin X. So when we created the name for our organization, it was before people reason why.

But we use both Latin A and Latin X. So you use whatever your most comfortable with.

I love that. So now binary. I love doing both. So yeah, Latin A Latin X. But we know that the Latin A and Latin X community is not a monolith.

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