Clemson University students are protesting against the removal of menstrual products from men’s restrooms on campus and demanding repercussions towards the College Republicans for their “role in the tampons’ removal.”
In September, a post on X from the South Carolina university’s College Republicans group apparently contributed to the quiet removal of tampon and pad dispensers from the school’s men’s bathrooms.
“If you weren’t aware already, Clemson University has tampon/pad dispensers in the MEN’S restrooms located in Cooper Library,” the club wrote, adding that the inclusion of female hygiene products in the men’s room is proof of a “clown world.”
If you weren’t aware already, Clemson University has tampon/pad dispensers in the MEN’S restrooms located in Cooper Library.
We truly live in world. pic.twitter.com/hjXk9ZQVRF
— Clemson College Republicans (@ClemsonCRs) September 14, 2023
On Wednesday, about 50 students marched across campus “to demand that menstrual products be returned to men’s bathrooms in Cooper Library and that the Clemson College Republicans be reprimanded for their role in the tampons’ removal,” the College Fix reported.
While Clemson hosts a “Take Back Pride” march every year, the organizers made it clear that this time around it was in protest of the decision to remove the feminine hygiene items from men’s spaces.
“Today, we are marching for the reinstatement of the menstrual products in the men’s restrooms in Cooper Library and throughout campus,” announced Pan Tankersley, the main student organizer of the event.
Another student addressed protesters at a rally before the march:
“Queer people on this campus are not just going to magically disappear. So instead of working against us, like taking away menstrual products from the men’s bathrooms, making people feel unwelcomed, there should be support for the community that is already fighting to feel safe here.”
A Take Back Pride Instagram post lists their complaints in an infographic, claiming that the criticism from the conservative student group prompted the product dispensers in the men’s restrooms to be vandalized with “hateful slurs towards the transgender community” before the university removed “all traces of their existence.”
They went on to demand “formal repercussions towards the Clemson College Republicans for contributing to a campus climate that encourages transphobic rhetoric and jeopardizes the safety of LGBTQIA+ students.”
In response to the Take Back Pride protest, the College Republicans tabled across the street to counter the group’s demands.
“It’s unfair that they’re taking that (free menstrual products) away from females,” Bailey Nye, social chair of the group, told the College Fix. “Taking the tampons from the majority of people who actually use them is wrong.”
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