A Democratic Minnesota representative opposed an amendment to a bill that would have funded student toilets with menstrual products. According to the National Desk, the legislator stated that not all students who have menstrual problems are female.
Sandra Feist created the “Menstrual Equity Act”, which was designed to give all students access to menstrual products.
Feist presented a list of reasons why an amendment to make the products only available in female toilets should not have been supported at a Jan. 11 education policy hearing.
This amendment is not supported by the committee for a variety of reasons. We could become obsolete if we add “female”. Second, not all students have a period.
Feist admitted that female students have fewer “non-female” menstruating students than male students. This was taken into consideration when calculating the bill’s cost.
Students who aren’t female or have menstrual cycles may face more stigma and obstacles when using these products. They should be available in every student bathroom.
“Not all students who menstruate are female,” said DFL Rep. Sandra Feist during a hearing to consider a bill that would provide menstrual products in all school bathrooms, including boys’ bathrooms. Read more: https://t.co/X5AG5JFdGz pic.twitter.com/kbVLb89ojz
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) January 17, 2023
Many people who responded on Twitter to Feist’s statement that “not all students are women” were not as gentle as you might think.
- “The problem with this nonsense is that everyone speaks as if it’s a scientific fact when it’s not,” one commenter wrote. “If you menstruate you are a biological female, that is a fact. That is science. The rest of it is people just pretending & playing make-believe.”
- “The chromosomes that make you male or female never change,” another user said. “If you have a uterus you will have a menstrual cycle. A trans person can call themselves female or male, but if they are XY they are male. XX is female. Biology 101.”
- “Show me an actual man who menstruates and needs tampons. If you can show me that I’ll shut up,” another commenter noted. “But you can’t. It will never happen. … A man is a man and a woman is a woman. If you are a hermaphrodite, figure it out.”
- “Where are all the women’s organizations who are supposed to be empowering and standing up for women?!!” another user wondered. “I find this garbage coming from women insulting and criminal to girls being influenced by them!”
- Republican state Rep. Dean Urdahl — who brought forward the amendment to the bill, according to the National Desk — said during last week’s hearing that it’s “just about practicality. I believe that these products should be most available to those that would use them, girls. This amendment makes that more likely.”
Urdahl commented to the outlet that he believes feminine hygiene products should have access to girls in schools. Concerns have been raised regarding the use of feminine products in fourth grade by boys.
According to the outlet, Feist did not respond to this inquiry before publication.
