These colleges are providing free tampons in men’s restrooms — here’s why that’s so important
Several U.S. colleges and universities are providing men’s and gender-neutral restrooms with menstrual products in an effort be more inclusive of transgender students.
Brown University, Bowdoin University, the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities are among the schools providing free menstrual products in all of their student bathrooms.
In doing so, the school makes the important point that people across all gender identities can menstruate and should have access to hygienic materials they need.
Lance Floto, Vice-President of the University of Rochester’s student government, made sure to emphasize that the choice was not difficult or meant to be revolutionary –– just accepting of all students.
“The reason we do [this] is because there are some men on the campus who menstruate and so it’s just the whole idea of inclusion and making sure that nobody’s left out,” Floto said. “It’s a very easy thing.”
The school’s student government raised $5,000 on its own to be able to provide the products in their student bathrooms, and they say they hope the addition will give their students one less thing to worry about.
“Nobody expects you to carry around your own toilet paper, and so in the same sense we don’t think it should be required or expected of people to pay for or carry around their own tampons or pads — that should be a service we are providing,” Floto explained.
We applaud these schools for their inclusivity and respect for their students’ needs.
