Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R) on Thursday signed an executive order banning “woke” and “anti-women” words from state documents. The culture war salvo got a thumbs-down from the ACLU and LGBTQ+ advocates.
Sanders, a Republican who served as White House press secretary under Donald Trump, aimed her wrath at inclusionary language, specifically around gender and childbirth.
Here are the forbidden terms and their now-mandatory replacements, per the order.
- a. Rather than “pregnant people” or “pregnant person,” use “pregnant women” or “pregnant mom.”
- b. Rather than “chestfeeding,” use “breastfeeding.”
- c. Rather than “body fed” or “person fed,” use “breast fed.”
- d. Rather than “human milk,” use “breast milk.”
- e. Rather than “birthing person,” use “birth mom.”
- f. Rather than “laboring person,” use “birth mom.”
- g. Rather than “menstruating person” or “menstruating people,” use “woman” or “women.”
- h. Rather than “birth-giver,” use “woman.”
- i. Rather than “womxn” or “womyn,” use “woman.”
“Enough trying to erase women and girls,” the governor said at a press conference, which can be viewed below. “Enough denying our biolgical differences from men. And enough of the craziness that is taking over our country.”
“Today, we’re taking a stand against woke nonsense,” she declared.
Even Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Kay Chandler chimed in. “Our governor won’t let political correctness get in the way of science,” Chandler said.
The degree to which the language had appeared in state business appeared unclear. Sanders cited one instance of a word used at the health department and said others had been reported to her office, the NBC affiliate KARK reported.
Gender-neutral terms for childbearing have emerged to accommodate transgender and nonbinary people in the process.
The ACLU called the ban “divisive” and an attempt to “erase” marginalized groups, CBS affiliate THV11 reported.
“When we go down this road where we use language to drive exclusion, that exclusion can have horrible outcomes that could generate hate,” Joe Johnson of Central Arkansas Pride told KARK.
Sanders hyped her anti-woke order on Fox News’ “Hannity” later in the day. Journalist Aaron Rupar, who posted the introduction, sarcastically summed up the silliness. “Sarah Sanders is really addressing the vital issues facing the people of Arkansas,” he wrote.
Sanders banned the use of “Latinx” and the teaching of critical race theory on her first day in office back in January.
Recently she’s been attempting to shake controversy over the purchase of a $19,000 lectern.