Public schools in Oregon will soon be required to provide tampons and other feminine products in boys’ bathrooms.
QUICK FACTS:
- The state’s new “Menstrual Dignity Act” which was signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kate Brown in 2021, mandates that feminine products be made available in student bathrooms in elementary school and up.
- In addition to the menstrual products, “instructions on how to use them” will also be provided.
- “Starting next year (2022-23), products will be available in all restrooms (male, female, and all-gender) in every PPS building where education occurs,” said a memo released on April 19 titled “Update on PPS Implementation of Menstrual Dignity Act.”
MEMO POSTED ON OREGON SCHOOL WEBSITE:
“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,” the website reads.
BACKGROUND:
- The Oregon Department of Education wrote in March that “Not all people who menstruate are girls, and not all girls menstruate,” The Washington Times reported.
- The department also asked schools to be “gender-inclusive” by using “menstruating students” instead of “girls,” and “menstrual products” rather than “feminine hygiene products.”
- According to the memo, the new Oregon law also requires schools to “provide education on growth, development, and puberty that includes menstrual health.”
