How students inspired Fort Worth to offer free menstrual pads in city buildings
Thanks to the efforts of two Fort Worth teenagers, the city will start stocking bathrooms in city buildings with free menstrual products.
Fort Worth’s nine-member council approved Tuesday a proposal to stock bathrooms in city buildings — including libraries, community centers, City Hall and Municipal Court — with menstrual pads, available for free to bathroom patrons just as soap and toilet paper already are. City officials said the change in policy would be implemented quickly.
The vote was inspired by the efforts of Olivia Castillo, 18, and Maya Perez, 16, who together were able to massively expand access to menstrual products after they successfully petitioned the Fort Worth school board to provide free pads in school bathrooms.
Council member Elizabeth Beck said she read about the students’ advocacy in a Star-Telegram article, and began considering what the city could do to make menstrual products more accessible to young people in Fort Worth. Mayor Mattie Parker enthusiastically agreed to back the idea, she said.
“I was really proud of these two young young women and decided to carry that to the city,” Beck said. “It was really exciting to see the way that they pushed their elected officials and leaders to think differently and do better.”
Council approved the idea unanimously at its Tuesday meeting.
Castillo and Perez began researching period poverty as co-presidents of the feminist club at Paschal High School in early 2022. When considering whether people who menstruate had access to adequate supplies, they realized their own classmates might be missing school, activities, or simply feeling uncomfortable because of their periods.
The two had initially planned to organize a donation drive for period products, but decided to take a bigger step and ask the school board for a district-wide change. In April, school leaders agreed with the girls’ case, and decided to start offering free menstrual pads in bathrooms on middle and high school campuses.
School officials said they planned to start offering free pads during summer school classes, and hope to have pads accessible on all campuses by the start of the coming school year.
The students took inspiration from other young activists, including students in Dallas, who similarly demanded change from their leaders.
“It just feels like a lot of the push to get menstrual products in restrooms has been by young people,” said Castillo, who graduated from Paschal High School in June and will attend the University of Texas at Austin in the fall.
Perez, a rising junior, encouraged young people to ask for change.
“If you see a discrepancy within your school or within public policy, exercise your right to go to school board meetings, go talk to City Council members and tell them your issues,” she said. “A lot of times we focus on what adults want and what parents want. But it’s important to listen to the youth, too.”
Fort Worth joins a growing number of cities that are reconsidering access to menstrual products as a necessity, and trying to make them easier to find in communal spaces like schools, jails, and homeless shelters.
Access to clean, ample products to manage a period is necessary to avoid infections or rashes that can result from using unclean makeshift pads or tampons. But period supplies also allow people to menstruate more comfortably and without embarrassment, and to avoid skipping school or work because they don’t have any supplies and don’t want to bleed into their clothes.
Parker said the city’s change was one step leaders could take to make supplies more accessible. In Texas, menstrual products are subject to the general sales tax. Activists have argued that tampons and pads should instead be treated like groceries and medicine, which are exempt from state sales taxes. And most government support programs can’t be used to purchase menstrual products, diapers, or similar necessities for basic hygiene.
“This is a bigger conversation that policymakers across this country need to have,” Parker said. “For the city of Fort Worth, this is the one thing we could easily do. And so we thought quick action made sense.”
City staff can immediately begin work on increasing access, instead of waiting for funds to be allocated in the next budget cycle. Parker said additional urgency was added to the matter as inflation increases the cost of tampons, pads, and other supplies.
The exact cost of providing menstrual pads throughout the city is unknown. Now that the measure has been approved, city employees will develop a plan for how pads can be stocked and distributed in city facilities. Officials estimate it will be a relatively small cost.
“If we can make this change swiftly, without it being a part of a big budget process, or if this brings additional media attention, maybe young women will know this available to them,” Parker said. “We want all our city facilities to be welcoming places. This sounds so small and silly, I’m sure, to some, but it’s not to the person that needs them in the moment.”
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 1:42 PM.
