Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) has taken a lot of heat in the days since he was tapped as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate for signing a law requiring free menstrual products in public school bathrooms.
Conservative critics have dubbed him “Tampon Tim,” and accused the governor of putting tampons in boys’ bathrooms as well as girls’.
So, did Walz really sign a law requiring tampons in boys’ bathrooms?
The answer appears to be yes — Minnesota public schools are required to stock menstrual products in the restrooms for all “menstruating students,” which would include trans-identifying girls who use the boys’ bathroom.
Though it’s unclear if any schools have actually installed menstrual product dispensers in boys bathrooms, the Democrat who sponsored the bill said she intentionally wrote it so that “trans students” would be able to access menstrual products. At the same time, Walz, Democratic legislators, and the state education department have pushed policies that accommodate and even encourage children who want to change their gender identity.
So, while the language of the bill may be intentionally vague, it was part of a broader push by Walz and his allies to have Minnesota schools enforce transgender policies, some of which go far beyond tampon dispensers.
Walz signed the law in question in May of last year. The law requires public school bathrooms to stock free tampons or pads beginning in January 2024.
“The products must be available to all menstruating students in restrooms regularly used by students in grades 4 to 12 according to a plan developed by the school district,” the bill reads.
Republicans tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to only apply to “female restrooms.”
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Department of Education says trans-identifying students should be able to use the bathrooms of the opposite sex.
“Transgender and gender nonconforming students should be afforded the opportunity to use the restroom of their choice,” the education department’s toolkit on trans-identifying students reads.
Minneapolis Public Schools and other districts across the state have implemented policies allowing trans-identifying students to use the bathrooms and locker rooms of the opposite sex.
All of this means that if a school has a trans-identifying girl who uses the boys’ bathroom, it follows that the school is required to provide that student with menstrual products in the boys’ bathroom.
Because Walz’s law applies to students as young as fourth grade, this means an elementary school could potentially be stocking tampons in the bathroom used by nine-year-old boys.
Democratic State Representative Sandra Feist, the chief sponsor of the legislation, said she purposely made her bill “gender-inclusive.”
“While the vast majority of the period products will be used in the girls’ bathrooms, the decision was made to structure the bill as gender-inclusive in order to ensure that trans and nonbinary students who menstruate would have equal access to the products they need,” Feist said.
“I actually received emails,” she said. “From trans students, parents, teachers, librarians, custodians from across the country, talking about how they were — or that they knew — trans students who faced these barriers and needed these products, and how much it meant to them that they would have that access, and also that we were standing up for them.”
Minnesota’s other policies around trans-identifying students similarly push schools to “affirm” the child’s new gender identity, even when parents disagree.
“The family’s non-acceptance should not override the schools’ responsibility” to “create an affirming and accepting environment for every student, including transgender and gender nonconforming students,” the education department’s guidance reads.
Also, when students travel for field trips or athletic activities and stay in hotel rooms, “school officials should allow a transgender or gender nonconforming student the opportunity to room with peers who match the student’s gender identity,” the guidance says.
This means biological girls and boys could end up rooming together.
The Minnesota Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment.
