Clemson University students rallied to protest the stripping of sanitary products from men’s bathrooms on their South Carolina campus.
Dressed in bright colors and clutching signs with messages such as ‘hello, it’s the 21st century’, around 50 students attended the protest this week, calling for sanitary products to be restored in the men’s bathrooms.
The feminine hygiene dispensaries were quietly taken down after the Clemson College Republicans hacked their social media presence and sparked an onslaught of criticism.
Take Back Pride, which organized the event, claims machines were vandalized shortly after the post with ‘hateful slurs towards the transgender community’ before the university removed them entirely.
“Today we are marching for the reinstatement of menstrual products in the men’s restrooms in Cooper Library and throughout campus,” Pan Tankersley, of the group’s march committee, told her fellow protesters.
Clemson University students rallied to demand the return of menstrual products in the men’s bathroom
Take Back Pride, which organized the event, claims machines were vandalized with ‘hateful slurs towards the transgender community’ shortly after this photo was posted on social media
At least 50 students attended the protest after dispensaries were removed
‘Students are still not safe on campus. They still experience harassment, hatred and all that.
‘If anything, the university needs to step up and protect its students.’
Another student asked for the pharmacy to be put back in the bathroom, saying it creates an environment where people don’t feel included.
“We demand the reinstatement of the menstrual dispensers that were unjustly removed from the men’s bathrooms at Cooper Library,” they said.
‘New people on this campus aren’t just going to magically disappear. So instead of working against us, like taking away menstrual products from the men’s bathrooms, to make people feel unwelcome, there needs to be support for the community that is already fighting to feel safe here.’
The female health products were removed from the male facilities at Cooper Library three days after the Clemson College Republicans post sparked outrage.
“If you weren’t already aware, Clemson University has tampon/pad dispensers in the MEN’s restrooms located in Cooper Library,” the conservative student organization wrote online Sept. 13.
It added: ‘We truly live in (clown emojis) world.’
The post was seen by a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, April Cromer, who reportedly reached out to campus leaders to discuss the issue.
The group claims the removal of the products has created an environment where people do not feel included
An onslaught of outrage was unleashed after the Clemson College Republicans posted a photo of the dispenser to X
Pan Tankersley, of Take Back Pride’s march committee, said students ‘are still not safe’
Clemson’s Dean of Students and President of Student Affairs Chris Miller supported his classmates in exercising their right to free speech.
“It’s always good that our students have access to their campus,” Miller told the College correction after the protest.
‘The ability to gather and speak freely unencumbered just goes to the heart of what a university is and what a university is for.’
Clemson University spokesman Joe Galbraith said there are no plans to reinstall the dispensers in the men’s bathrooms.
The uproar is another saga seen across the country as schools redefine bathroom policies.
A protester outside the Kansas Statehouse holds a sign after a rally on Transgender Day of Visibility as schools grapple with gender identity issues
Just last week, the family of a teenage girl who was raped in her high school bathroom by a ‘skirt-wearing male student’ launched a $30 million lawsuit.
Scott Smith, the victim’s father, claims Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia failed to adequately investigate his daughter’s claims and attempted to cover up the sexual assault.
He claims a biological man wearing a skirt in a women’s bathroom raped his daughter in the girls’ bathroom at Stone Bridge High School in May 2021.
In September, hundreds of students in Pennsylvania walked out of school in protest of a new rule allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.
High school students in Perkiomen Valley School District held the protest after officials decided not to adopt a policy that would force students to use restrooms that match their biological sex.
They accused headteachers of ‘compromising’ their rights and putting female students at risk during the protest last week.
Clemson University students march on campus after TAMPONS were quietly removed from the MEN’S bathroom
