ACLU Demands ‘Menstrual Equity’ in Men’s Restrooms for Transgender People

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is demanding feminine hygiene products be placed in men’s rest rooms in order to alleviate what it claims is “menstruation-related discrimination” against transgender and “non-binary” individuals.

We don’t need to erase trans or non-binary people to show that barriers to menstrual equity, such as the tax on menstrual products, are unconstitutional sex discrimination.

Our discussion of the tampon tax must include every person who menstruates.https://t.co/surqfIcK1e

— ACLU (@ACLU) December 18, 2019

The goal, the ACLU claims, is to achieve “menstrual equity,” whereby menstrual products are available to all, including biological women who claim to be men and use men’s rest rooms.

‘While free menstrual products are not uniformly provided in women’s restrooms, they are almost never available in men’s restrooms, even for pay,’ the ACLU says in a statement, claiming that failure to provide menstrual products in men’s rooms amounts to “sex discrimination.”

“Men’s restrooms are also less likely to have a place to dispose of these products conveniently, privately, and hygienically,” ACLU complains.

The left-wing organization states:

Some arguments that challenge discriminatory laws based on sex-linked characteristics have made the point that “only women” menstruate, get pregnant, or breastfeed. But that is not a full or accurate portrayal — and menstrual stigma and period poverty can hit trans and non-binary people particularly hard.

ACLU claims taxes on menstrual products make these items less “accessible and affordable,” an argument that is similar to Planned Parenthood’s claim that birth control must be “free” in order for it to be available to all women, even though it can be purchased in a drugstore for $10 per month.

“Constitutional law scholar and dean of UC Berkeley Law Erwin Chemerinsky recently co-authored a Los Angeles Times op-ed proposing that the failure of states to exempt menstrual products from sales tax — the tampon tax — amounts to denial of equal protection under the Constitution,” the organization states.

ACLU also touts its “Menstrual Equity Toolkit,” which, it says, “provides advocates with key arguments and materials for advancing menstrual equity through legislation.”