Gender-Neutral Language Practices by Nonbinary and Gender-Diverse Spanish-Speakers

This article examines current uses of gender-neutral and inclusive language in the Spanish-speaking world to determine how gender-diverse speakers describe themselves and others within the binary grammatical gender system of Spanish. The linguistic data were collected through an anonymous online survey distributed to 141 LGBTQ2S+ organizations based in Spanish-speaking countries. The survey was completed by 132 participants who self-identified as agender, demiboy, demigirl, gender fluid, gender queer, nonbinary, or transgender. The findings confirm that neopronouns and neomorphemes are highly used and accepted by this population, with certain ones preferred over others depending on the medium of usage. Uniform agreement with matching morphemes is more accepted than mixed agreement with nonmatching morphemes. This study has implications for teachers and learners of Spanish in terms of acceptability and usage of gender-neutral language in various gender nonbinary Spanish-speaking communities.