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College places menstrual products in men's restrooms in the name of inclusivity for transgender students
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College places menstrual products in men's restrooms in the name of inclusivity for transgender students

Program is starting at Pullman campus, could expand to others

Under the guise of "inclusivity," Washington State University is now stocking menstrual products in men's restrooms.

The move is billed as a way make transgender individuals feel more welcome on campus, according to Campus Reform. Three restrooms are being used as trial run at the Pullman, Washington, campus. Other WSU campuses are under review and could receive similar accommodations.

What else is going on?

The university is also allowing students to choose a name other than their legal name on their student identification card, according to the report. The name policy went into effect because some students felt that using a legal name on student identification cards was not welcoming for transgender students who want to make up their own names. Another new policy in the university system requires all new buildings to have "gender-neutral single-user restrooms," the report stated.

Matthew Jeffries, Director of WSU Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center, reportedly said the name policy for students' "CougarCard" was a very big step. Jeffries also co-chairs the Gender Inclusive and Trans Support Working Group, which is part of the WSU Campus Culture & Climate Initiative. The group is tasked with addressing "inequities" on WSU campuses and is working with other departments and university groups.

"Throughout the system, students are coming forward and advocating for change," Nolan Yaws-Gonzalez, assistant director of WSU Vancouver Student Center, told Campus Reform. "We're going to make changes that impact the whole system."

Not everyone is welcoming the changes, however.

WSU College Republicans President Amir Rezamand told Campus Reform Friday that he found the idea of stocking men's restrooms with tampons and sanitary napkins "pretty ridiculous," and an indication that "we live in a clown world."

Are other colleges doing this?

A 2017 report by The Chronicle of Higher Education noted that other colleges are already offering free menstrual products and placing some of them and "gender-neutral" restrooms. The University of Wisconsin at Madison, the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, and Brown University are among the institutions doing it.

"That last detail has prompted some conservative websites to take note," the Chronicle of Higher Education wrote.

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