‘Menstrual Dignity Act’ requires menstrual products in boys’ bathrooms

May 8, 2022 in News by RBN Staff

In July 2021, Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed the controversial “Menstrual Dignity Act,” which requires all K-12 schools to provide free sanitary products to students — along with instructions on their use, Fox News reported.

“Starting next year (2022-2023), products will be available in all restrooms (male, female and all-gender) in every PPS building where education occurs,” the Portland school district said in a 2021 statement.

“To ensure timely compliance, PPS ordered 500 dispensers. Dispensers have been installed in all elementary and middle school girls’ restrooms, and more will be installed in all remaining bathrooms, including boys’ restrooms, next year,” it said, according to Fox News.

Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed the controversial “Menstrual Dignity Act" in July 2021.
Democratic Gov. Kate Brown signed the controversial “Menstrual Dignity Act” in July 2021.
AP

“Instructions on how to use tampons and pads will be posted in all bathrooms,” the statement added.

The Beaver State’s district also encouraged parents to talk to their kids about reducing the “shame and stigma” surrounding getting their periods, according to the network.

In March, the state Education Department also issued a “Menstrual Dignity for Students” tool kit containing instructions on how to use menstrual products and tips for “menstruation-positive” language for families.

“Importantly, [the Menstrual Dignity Act] affirms the right to menstrual dignity for transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and two spirit students by addressing the challenges that some students have managing menstruation while minimizing negative attention that could put them at risk of harm and navigating experiences of gender dysphoria during menstruation,” part of the kit’s introduction read, Fox News reported.

"Starting next year (2022-2023), products will be available in all restrooms," Portland's public school system announced.
“Starting next year (2022-2023), products will be available in all restrooms,” Portland’s public school system announced.
Getty Images/Image Source

“Research also connects gender-affirming bathroom access to supporting student safety at school,” it added.

Meanwhile, a video posted by the Libs of TikTok apparently shows a tampon dispenser inside a boys’ bathroom.

The new law has incurred the wrath of Republicans, including Oregon gubernatorial candidate and conservative writer Bridget Barton, who slammed Brown.

“Radical leftist woke policies are destroying Oregon from our streets to our businesses to our schools,” Barton told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“But as a mom, a new grandmother, and a Republican candidate for Oregon governor, I can’t believe we’re even discussing this — America’s most unpopular governor, Kate Brown, is putting free tampons in the boys’ bathrooms of Oregon’s elementary schools,” she said.

“Clearly Brown cares more about what’s going on in the bathrooms than what’s going on in the classrooms,” Barton added.

Conservatives also ripped the “Menstrual Dignity Act” as an attempt by the left to push an LGBTQ agenda, Newsweek reported.

“I and many Oregonian women find your Menstrual Dignity Act an affront to women,” one Twitter user wrote. “Only females can menstruate. Only females should be in the female restroom, and only males should be in the male restroom.”

A third said “the ‘Menstrual Dignity Act’ is another example of liberal maniacs forcing the population to accept their mentally ill beliefs. They want parents to encourage children to become different.”

Some argue that the law subjects girls to bullying and shaming for using the products.

A 2021 survey commissioned by Thinx & PERIOD found that 80 percent of teens already feel there is a negative association with menstruation, Newsweek reported.

"Research also connects gender-affirming bathroom access to supporting student safety at school," said the Education Department.
“Research also connects gender-affirming bathroom access to supporting student safety at school,” said the Education Department.
Ben Schumin via Flickr

“Has anyone considered the trauma girls will experience when boys run up & down hallways, waving tampons & pantomiming insertion?” a Twitter user reportedly wrote.

“Ridiculing girls at their most vulnerable is NOT dignity,” the user added.

Marc Siegel, a spokesman for the Oregon Department of Education, told The Post that “the intention is that all students have an understanding of menstruation as a positive part of human development, without shame or stigma.”

The goal of the legislation “is that all menstruating students have the right to access the products that they need, whenever they need them. This is important for everyone, so that all students, including those who are transgender, intersex, non-binary, or two spirit, in all grades, can access their education without barriers,” he said in an email Friday.

"Ridiculing girls at their most vulnerable is NOT dignity,” said one critic.
“Ridiculing girls at their most vulnerable is NOT dignity,” said one critic.
AP

The tool kit “centers on inclusivity, education, and privacy so that all menstruating students have access to dignified self care. It provides best practices for staff engagement, student and community engagement, as well as resources for providing menstrual health education that is positive, celebratory, and not shame based,” Siegel added.