(DC Pundit) – In a move that’s raising eyebrows, The New York Times has added menstrual products to men’s bathrooms at its Manhattan office, according to internal communications obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Victor Liu, the vice president for global real estate and facilities, broke the news to employees in a company-wide Slack message. From July 26 to July 29, Liu announced, the Times would begin “adding menstrual products and sanitary baskets” to the office’s men’s restrooms “to support transgender and non-binary colleagues.” But that’s not all. The company also decided to remove gendered imagery and add language encouraging colleagues to use whichever restroom they feel most comfortable in.
This decision highlights the growing cultural and political divide between legacy media companies and the general public. It’s like the Times is zigging while the public is zagging. Polls show that most Americans support policies requiring individuals who identify as transgender to use bathrooms matching their biological sex. President-elect Donald Trump made hay with this issue during his successful campaign this fall, and surveys indicate it was one of his most effective talking points.
When asked for comment, the Times was as silent as a church mouse.
According to the paper’s 2023 “Diversity and Inclusion Report,” only 1 percent of the Times’s workforce identifies as “nonbinary” – a category that includes transgender individuals and those who choose not to identify with either gender. While this number appears to be on the rise, it’s still a drop in the ocean relative to the paper’s overall workforce.
This move by the Times is a bold step in a direction that not everyone agrees with, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out in the long run. One thing’s for sure: in the world of journalism, the Times is certainly not afraid to make waves.
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