Canales bill would allow accents on state documents

Despite Hispanics making up a large part of the Texas population, the state does not acknowledge an important part of the Spanish language.

Accent marks, tildes or any diacritical marks, be it Spanish or any other language, do not appear on Texas drivers licenses, vital records or any other personal identification material. Many states do not have any diacritical marks on licenses or personal documents.

State Rep. Terry Canales, D-Edinburg, filed a bill in the state legislature in February, “relating to properly recorded diacritical marks in vital statistics records, driver’s licenses, commercial driver’s licenses and personal identification certificates.” The bill has not gone through committee yet, but Canales believes everyone should be on board with it.

“It’s absolutely critical that we use the accents or diacritical marks because that’s your name,” Canales said. “You are your name. That’s your identity.”

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