A Tampon Machine in the Men’s Room

A far right cable news channel- not the one you think!- is up at arms over the men’s room facilities in Ireland’s parliament building.

by Evan Urquhart

A right wing cable news channel has chosen to cover the conveniences afforded by a single men’s bathroom in Ireland.

This comes as the US faces crises stemming from a seemingly endless series of mass shootings to gangs of armed fascists menacing ordinary citizens at events ranging from brunches to children’s story hours.

Hold up. We’re stealing someone else’s bit here, aren’t we:

This is absurd. No, no, not the idea of a men’s restroom with tampons, obviously trans men exist, trans men use men’s restrooms, and some trans men have periods. A tampon vending machine is inexpensive and easy to install, and if it’s used infrequently, that just means it will rarely need to be refilled or serviced.

The absurdity is Newsmax covering the installation of a single tampon-dispenser in a men’s restroom in a foreign country. How can this possibly be useful or relevant information for any member of the US public? It’s arguably not relevant or useful news in IRELAND, certainly not with a framing around the supposed expense: Tampon vending machines cost a couple hundred dollars while the budget of the government of Ireland is $11bn.

It’s no surprise when the right wing press makes mountains out of molehills in the name of furthering the current moral panic over trans people’s existence, but we will continue to call it out whenever and wherever we see it.