User:Marzipan Calicoco/Gender-neutral language

Canada
University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson uploaded a video to YouTube expressing his opposition to Bill C-16 – An Act to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code, a bill introduced by Justin Trudeau's government, in October 2016. The proposed piece of legislation was to add the terms "gender identity" and "gender expression" to the Canadian Human Rights Act and to the Criminal Code 's hate crimes provisions. In the video, Peterson argued that legal protection of gender pronouns results in "compelled speech", which would violate the right to freedom of expression outlined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In the view of Peterson, legal pronoun protects would force an individual to say something with which one has an opposition to. The bill passed in the House of Commons and in the Senate, becoming law once it received Royal Assent on 19 June 2017. In response to the passing of the bill, Peterson has stated he will not use gender-neutral pronouns if asked in the classroom by a student.

France
In 2021, controversy spiked in France when the dictionary Petit Robert included the gender neutral term iel – composed of il ('he') and elle ('she'). The dictionary's director, Charles Bimbenet, stated it was added as researchers noted "an increasing usage" of the neutral pronoun in "a large body of texts drawn from various sources." However, a number of French politicians have opposed the new addition.

Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French Minister of Education, publicly tweeted: "inclusive writing is not the future of the French language." Similarly, François Jolivet, a French politician, accused the dictionary of pushing a "woke" ideology that "undermines [their] common language and its influence", in a letter addressed to the Académie Française. The controversy weighs into the ongoing debate regarding masculine dominance in the French language.

United States
'''The American English language contains gendered connotations that make it challenging for gender-neutral language to achieve the desired linguistic equality. "Male default" is especially prominent in the United States and often when gender-neutral language is used around traditionally male institutions, the neutrality doesn't prevent people from automatically translating "they" to the default "he."  A study conducted in June of 2021 at UCLA School of Law Williams Institute found that 1.2 Million LGBTQ adults identify as nonbinary.'''

Argentina
'''Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, implemented a policy in June of 2022 that forbade public educational institutions from using gender-neutral language on the basis gender-neutral language is grammatically incorrect and causes developmental learning issues for students.  In the Spanish language nouns are either feminine (usually ending in "a") or masculine (usually ending in "o"), but in recent years gender-neutral endings like "x" and "e" have gained popularity; For example, "Latinx" has become the gender-neutral option for the previously binary "Latino" or "Latina." Buenos Aires' objection to gender-neutral language in the classroom stems from concerns about linguistic correctness and preservation of the Spanish language. Those who support the development of gender-neutral language have expressed frustration with the male-dominance of the Spanish language: a group of students who are all female is "companeras," but if one male student enters the group, the grammatically correct term for the students becomes "companeros" with the masculine "o" ending.'''

Italy
'''The Italian language contains grammatical gender where nouns are either male or female with corresponding gendered pronouns, which differs from English in that nouns are typically neutral. For example, "la tavola" in Italian has a feminine prefix and ending, while "the table" in English is neutral. Developing a gender-neutral option in Italian is linguistically challenging because the Italian language contains only male or female: "friends" in Italian is either "amici" or "amiche" where the male "i" pluralized ending is used as an all-encompassing term, and "amiche" with the feminine "e" pluralized ending refers specifically to a group of female friends. Italian linguistically derived from Latin, which does contain a third "neuter" or neutral option. Use of the schwa has been suggested to create an Italian gender-neutral language option. Some Italian linguists have signed a petition opposing the use of the schwa on the basis it's not linguistically correct. '''