Why Republicans have nicknamed Tim Walz ‘Tampon Tim’

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Republicans have a new nickname for Minnesota governor and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz: “Tampon Tim.” 

#TamponTim began trending on the social media platform X after conservatives highlighted a 2023 Minnesota law Walz signed mandating free menstruation products in all public school restrooms used by students in grades four to 12. Republicans specifically objected to the law applying to all restrooms, regardless of gender marker, complaining menstrual products would be available in “little boys bathrooms.” 

That language and opposition, along with bans and restrictions on bathroom use, sports participation and gender-affirming care, are part of an effort to restrict how trans youth and adults engage with communities and in public spaces.

In Minnesota, some Republican legislators who opposed last year’s bill argued tampons, pads and other menstrual products should be available in only “female” bathrooms. Several ultimately voted for the bill. 

A number of states require and pay for the period products made available in schools, including California, New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut, Hawaii and New Jersey. Nine other states require the products, but do not fund them.

Anti-trans legislation has been a focus for the Republican Party, with almost 600 anti-trans bills filed in 2023 — and 85 of them becoming law. However, policies promoting access to reproductive care and menstrual products are widely popular with American voters. 

Walz has been a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights as governor of Minnesota. Last year, he signed an executive order defending the rights of LGBTQ+ people to receive gender-affirming health care. He also signed a “trans refuge” bill that aimed to “protect people seeking or providing gender-affirming health care” in Minnesota more broadly, solidifying his support from LGBTQ+ voters even before they began to enthusiastically mobilize behind the Harris campaign.

The Harris-Walz ticket’s positions on LGBTQ+ rights stands in stark contrast to those embraced by former President Donald Trump and his running mate, JD Vance. As a freshman senator for Ohio, Vance has introduced bills to “protect children’s innocence by banning gender-affirming care for minors” and is seen by LGBTQ+ allies and advocates as farther right than Trump, who said on Fox & Friends on Wednesday that Walz is “very heavy into transgender” and that “anything transgender he thinks is great.”  

Then, there is Project 2025, a 920-page document created by the conservative Heritage Foundation that lays out a plan to remake the federal government that is very much in line with his priorities and offers a blueprint for Trump’s potential second term. It denies the existence of trans people and equates being trans to pornography while declaring that “it should be outlawed,” The document also calls for cutting federal funding for gender-affirming care for children or adults and “aims to allow more health-care workers to opt out of providing such care if they say they object to it.”