Clemson University students have rallied to protest sanitary products being stripped from male bathrooms on their South Carolina campus. 

Dressed in bright colors while clinging to signs with messages such as ‘hello, it’s the 21st century’, around 50 students attended the protest this week, calling for the reinstatement of sanitary products in the men’s bathrooms. 

The feminine hygiene dispensaries were quietly taken away after the Clemson College Republicans slammed their presence on social media and triggered an onslaught of criticism. 

Take Back Pride, who organized the event, claim machines were vandalized with ‘hateful slurs towards the transgender community’ soon after the post before the university removed them entirely. 

‘Today, we are marching for the reinstatement of the menstrual products in the men’s restrooms in Cooper Library and throughout campus,’ Pan Tankersley, from the group’s march committee, told her fellow demonstrators. 

Clemson University students have rallied to demand the return of menstrual products in the men’s bathroom

Take Back Pride, who organized the event, claim machines were vandalized with ‘hateful slurs towards the transgender community’ soon after this photo was posted to social media 

At least 50 students attended the protest after dispensaries were removed

‘Students are still not safe on campus. They still experience harassment, hate and all of those things. 

‘If anything, the university needs to step up and needs to protect its students.’ 

Another student called for the dispensary to be put back in the bathroom, saying it created an environment where people did not feel included. 

‘We demand the reinstatement of the menstrual dispensers that were unjustly removed from the men’s bathrooms at Cooper Library,’ they said. 

‘Queer people on this campus are not just going to magically disappear. So instead of working against us, like taking away menstrual products from the men’s bathrooms, making people feel unwelcomed, there should 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 generated outrage. 

‘If you weren’t aware already, Clemson University has tampon/pad dispensers in the MEN’S restrooms located in Cooper Library,’ the conservative student organization wrote online on September 13.

It added: ‘We truly live in [clown emoji] world.’ 

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The post was seen by a Republican member of the South Carolina House of Representatives, April Cromer, who reportedly approached campus leaders to discuss the issue. 

The group claim the removal of the products has created an environment where people do not feel included 

An onslaught of outrage was triggered after the Clemson College Republicans posted a picture of the dispenser to X

Pan Tankersley, from 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 exercising their right to free speech. 

‘It’s always good that our students have access to their campus,’ Miller told the College Fix after the protest. 

‘The ability to assemble and speak freely unencumbered just goes to the heart of what a university is and what a university is for.’ 

Clemson University spokesperson Joe Galbraith said there are no plans to reinstall the dispensers in the male bathrooms. 

The uproar is yet another saga seen across the country as schools redefine bathroom polices.

A protester outside the Kansas Statehouse holds a sign after a rally on the Transgender Day of Visibility as schools battle with gender identity issues 

Just last week, the the family of a teenage girl who was raped in her high school bathroom by a ‘male student wearing a skirt’ launched a $30million lawsuit.

Scott Smith, the victim’s father, alleges 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 male, who was 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 over a new rule allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice.

High school students in Perkiomen Valley School District staged the protest after officials opted not to adopt a policy that would force students to use restrooms which correspond with their biological sex.

They accused education chiefs of ‘compromising’ their rights and putting female students at risk during the demonstration last week.