Denton may offer free period products at city facilities; council will decide in January

By Christian McPhate

On December 13, 2023

The Denton City Council is slated to codify a program to offer free feminine hygiene and menstrual products at City Hall and 10 high-traffic facilities in the city. The program, introduced by City Manager Sara Hensley, would operate at no cost to local taxpayers.

Council member Brandon Chase McGee pitched the idea Tuesday to make Hensley’s program an official policy. McGee received majority direction, 6-2, to move forward with a work session item about Hensley’s program.

Council member Chris Watts, who missed last week’s City Council meeting, was not in attendance Tuesday.

“My logic is very simple,” McGee told council members, “when people go to the bathroom, we don’t charge them for the soap to wash their hands, the water to wash their hands … so why are we charging women for essential items?

“I think that women would agree that period products are an essential item.”

City staffers have finalized the agreement with a local nonprofit to provide menstrual products at no cost to taxpayers. It’s slated to be on the agenda for the Jan. 9 council meeting.

But it’s a discussion Mayor Gerard Hudspeth is reluctant to have.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Hudspeth claimed that the majority male council was “mansplaining” to Hensley.

“It’s terrible that we are having this conversation. Five men telling the first female city manager how to do their business. Have some respect for her life experience, and let’s get back to fixing streets,” Hudspeth said. “Oh, man.”

Council member Joe Holland reiterated the mayor’s comment and said that offering hand soap, sink water and paper towels and electric dryers is “where they should draw the line.”

The conversation about offering free period products began in August, when McGee and Mayor Pro Tem Brian Beck put a local nonprofit, Chhaupadi, in touch with city staff to discuss the possibility of providing menstrual products at city facilities. Now the organization is the city’s partner in providing products for the program.

Based in Pilot Point, Chhaupadi formed to address what’s known as period poverty. In 2021, 2 in 5 people with periods found it difficult to afford menstrual products, which was a 35% increase from 2018, the Fort Worth Report reported in 2021.

The Denton Record-Chronicle reported in 2020 that Texas was one of 33 states that classified tampons as luxury items rather than a medical necessity. This year, the Texas Legislature eliminated what some call the “tampon tax,” making the state one of just a few to do away with sales taxes on menstrual products.

“Everyone has the right to have their period with dignity and in a safe environment and have access to period products,” Chhaupadi founder Jessica Nordon said earlier this year.

City staff members have been working with the nonprofit on a plan since August.

Hensley said she started providing the menstrual products after former council member Deb Armintor initiated the idea to do so. The products are offered at City Hall currently, but Hensley said that they’re not offered in vending machines elsewhere due to the vandalism and clogged toilets that can occur.

McGee said he wanted to take what Hensley was doing and make it an official policy.

Council member Vicki Byrd, the city’s only female council member, thought McGee’s idea was a needed one.

“I wholeheartedly agree with this,” Byrd said. “We need to have the conversation. I thought we agreed when Deb Armintor brought that forward.”

Byrd said it’s a question that staff can also answer when they bring it forward in January.

This piece was republished from KERA News.