Fact Check: Claims that Tim Walz Signed Law Requiring Schools to Stock Tampons in Boys' Bathrooms Are Inaccurate

Anna Rascouët-Paz
Fri, 23 August 2024

Getty Images/screen capture


Claim:


Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 presidential election, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, signed a law requiring schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms.

Rating:

Rating: Mostly False

Context:

Tim Walz signed a law in 2023 that required Minnesota schools to stock free menstrual for students in grades four through 12. The language of the statute was gender neutral and therefore compelled schools to make menstrual products available to all "menstruating students," including transmasculine (trans boys and male-presenting) students, although they may be able to obtain them in places other than boys' bathrooms.

After Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz spoke at the Democratic National Convention that nominated him as presidential candidate Kamala Harris' running mate in August 2024, a rumor that Walz had signed a law requiring Minnesotan schools to stock tampons in boys' bathrooms took on new life (archived):

The claim has appeared multiple times on X, Reddit, and Facebook since Harris picked him as her would-be vice president. The posts had accumulated tens of thousands of views as of this writing and earned Walz the sarcastic moniker "Tampon Tim" (archived):

Menstrual Products for 'Menstruating Students'

In 2023, Walz signed a school funding bill into law containing a provision that guaranteed access to free menstrual protection to Minnesota students from the fourth through the 12th grade. This legislation required all school districts and charter schools to stock menstrual products, and the language of the law was gender neutral. It read (emphasis ours):

A school district or charter school must provide students with access to menstrual products at no charge. 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. For purposes of this section, "menstrual products" means pads, tampons, or other similar products used in connection with the menstrual cycle.

While the law did not specifically mention boys' bathrooms, it also did not restrict the rule to female or girls' bathrooms. Paired with the laws protecting children's access to gender-affirming care, this would require schools that do not provide gender-neutral restrooms to ensure such products to are available transmasculine students — that is, students who are either trans boys or students born female whose gender expression is masculine — to access them. In theory, this could require the stocking of menstrual products in boys' bathrooms in some cases, though the editorial board of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune argued that is not the case:

Critics contend, wrongly, that it mandates menstrual products in boys' bathrooms. This has unfortunately been used to stoke ongoing culture wars over transgender individuals.

But the law's actual language provides considerable flexibility for school districts to implement it, according to Deb Henton, the executive director of the Minnesota Association of School Administrators.

That might mean making these products available for free in various locations for all who need them, such as unisex bathrooms, girls' bathrooms, the school nurse or the front office, but not necessarily in boys' bathrooms. Henton, in an interview, lauded the "local control" the law provides for implementation, and said she's fielded no concerns about its rollout.

At Anoka-Hennepin, the state's largest school district, the free products are not found in traditional male-only bathrooms, a spokesman said. But they are provided for free to all in "nongendered bathrooms," girls' bathrooms or from health staffers.
'Tampon Tim' Goes Viral

Megyn Kelly, the conservative television show and podcast host whom former U.S. President Donald Trump once attacked for having "blood coming out of her wherever," embraced the monicker "Tampon Tim" as criticism of this and other of Walz's policies (archived):

But in 2024, talk of menstruation was no longer taboo in the public and political sphere. Far from putting people off, the fact that Walz supported such a law was, to many, a demonstration of empathy and good judgment, including from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (archived):

Sources:

Treisman, Rachel. 'Why Republicans Are Calling Walz "Tampon Tim" — and Why Democrats Embrace It'. NPR, 7 Aug. 2024. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2024/08/07/nx-s1-5066878/tim-walz-tampon-law-minnesota.

Chapter 55 - MN Laws. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/55/#laws.1.1.0. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.

Sec. 121A.212 MN Statutes. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/121A.212. Accessed 8 Aug. 2024.