George Mason University students win lawsuit after criticizing proposal to add tampons in mens restroom

Two George Mason University (GMU) law students won a lawsuit on Friday after they faced no-contact orders from school officials for speaking out against a proposal for feminine hygiene products to be included in male restrooms.“Universities—especially law schools—should be places of debate and discussion, and GMU has shown its commitment to this ideal with the settlement it reached with Selene and Maria,” said Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer, director of the ADF Center for Academic Freedom.The conservative law firm sued GMU in federal court for enforcing its Title IX and Office of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion sexual harassment policy against Selene Cerankosky and Maria Arcara.Cerankosky and Arcara, third-year students at Antonin Scalia Law School, were participating in a classroom online chat in September, in which they addressed another student’s proposal for GMU to allow tampons in the men’s restroom.According to the lawsuit, Cerankosky pushed back saying, “allow[ing] biological females into male restrooms to access period products as ‘trans men,’ then that would mean ‘female bathrooms will welcome male occupants.’”Cerankosky explained further that she wanted her classmates to “‘recognize the concerns of biological female students’ and how they would feel ‘considerably uncomfortable if there are males using private women’s spaces on campus.’ She noted that ‘[w]omen have a right to feel safe in spaces where they disrobe.’”“Ms.Arcara only posted twice during this conversation to ‘agree with [Ms.

Cerankosky]’ and to highlight her concerns for her own privacy and safety “if a biological man is in the [bath]room with [her] at a vulnerable time,’” the lawsuit stated.Cerankosky’s criticisms of tampons in the private student group chat room prompted GMU to issue no-contact orders against the two students, “without any explanation or warning,” prohibiting them from having any...