UK
Menstruation isn't just a women's issue, say Lib Dems


Dominic Penna
Sun, 20 August 2023 

Sir Ed Davey's party says there are not enough free period products in schools - Jamie Lorriman

Menstruation is “not just a women’s issue”, Liberal Democrat activists have said in a motion chosen to be debated at their party conference next month.

Sir Ed Davey’s party will vote on a policy proposal that insists period poverty is an issue that affects “some trans and non-binary people” in addition to biological women.

An agenda published by the Liberal Democrats for their annual gathering in Bournemouth includes a motion on period poverty which is to be debated on Sept 23.

The document states: “Conference notes that… menstruation is not just a women’s issue, and also affects some trans and non-binary people.

“Conference believes that period products are a human right, not a luxury; nobody should experience period poverty; England’s current free period product provision is not fit for purpose; [and] it is in everyone’s interests for stigma around periods to be addressed.”

The motion proceeds to call on the Government to introduce a right for people to access a choice of free period products, place a duty on councils and schools to make period products freely available and introduce “comprehensive education on periods… to ensure an appreciation for the lived experience of menstruation”.

Motion is to call on Government to educate for all 'lived experiences of menstruation' - Getty /Jeff J Mitchell

A motion was tabled at the party’s spring conference in March which would have amended the party’s constitution to remove all references to self-ID and non-binary people.

However, this was ignored by grassroots activists who moved to ignore the motion entirely, with some members going as far as to urge their fellow members who hold gender-critical views to leave the party.

In a webpage on the Liberal Democrat website entitled ‘transphobia’, the party reiterates its support for people being able to self-identify as their preferred gender without a medical certificate.

“Trans people may describe themselves using one or more of a variety of terms. Trans people are not required to have undergone any medical or social transition to be considered trans,” it says.


Sir Ed, the Liberal Democrat leader, claimed during an interview in May that a woman can “quite clearly” have a penis, as he suggested any debate around transgender issues had already been settled by the Equality Act.

“The vast majority of people whose biological sex is a woman at birth, they feel they’re women,” Sir Ed told LBC’s Nick Ferrari.

“They feel their gender [is] the same at birth. But there’s this very small number of people who don’t feel like that, and the law has recognised them for over 20 years now.”

Earlier this year, the Labour-run Welsh Government was criticised after it failed to mention women once in the official announcement of its period poverty plan.

Mentions of women included in the 19-page plan were almost always caveated as “women, girls and people who menstruate” or “those who menstruate”.

The Liberal Democrats were contacted for comment.