Always

In the news this last week, Procter and Gamble have announced that they’re removing the venus symbol from the packaging of their sanitary protection products in an attempt to be more inclusive of non-binary and transgender people who menstruate.

Personally I don’t really care about the packaging and it’s certainly nowhere near the worst thing about having periods but boy have the bigots had a field day. Social media has been swamped with bullshit and insults which is rather depressing, especially from people who you thought would be more tolerant.

I’ve been a bit disappointed that a couple of my co-workers are among those who’ve been sharing offensive memes and posting small minded opinions. I don’t generally get involved with this sort of thing online so I’ve just been unfriending people to avoid being sucked into all the negativity. However, it’s made me uncomfortable at work but it’s something I can’t talk about to anyone.

It’s debatable whether P&G were actually trying to help LGBT+ people or whether it’s just a cynical marketing ploy but either way it’s exposed a wide seam of transphobia and intolerance within society.