End Tampon Tax Tennessee
Governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee
ABOUT US
PERIOD is the largest youth-run NGO in women’s health in the world. We provide and celebrate menstrual hygiene through service, education, and policy — through the global distribution of period products to those in need, and engagement of youth leadership through a nationwide network of campus chapters. In the last three years, we have addressed almost 1 Million periods and have registered over 700 campus chapters at universities and high schools in the United States and abroad.
Petition by
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Sponsored by
To:
Governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee
From:
[Your Name]
In Tennessee, pads and tampons— products that are essential to menstrual health and hygiene— are taxed as luxury items.
In contrast, Tennessee does NOT tax:
Tickets to the county fair
Any taxidermy service
Guns bought at nonprofit gun shows
It’s time we understand menstrual hygiene is a RIGHT, not a luxury. Therefore,we call on the Tennessee State Legislature and Governor Bill Lee to eliminate the sales tax on menstrual hygiene products.
This year, Shelby County Commissioners unanimously passed a Resolution calling on the state’s lawmakers to end the tampon tax. We, PERIOD @ 901 Memphis, add our voices to this call to action. PERIOD @ 901 Memphis is an entirely youth-led organization, fighting for menstrual equity in the Memphis area and beyond. We are the future of Tennessee, and we are living in its most populous city. We demand our lawmakers listen to their constituents, listen to our voices, and move to end the tampon tax. For too long, our legislators have allowed period poverty to persist, and we say “enough.”
We have seen first-hand the devastating impact of the tampon tax on the ability to meet the needs of care. In June of 2019, PERIOD @ 901 Memphis raised over $350 to buy period products for the Shelby County Crime Victims and Rape Crisis Center. Of the money raised, we spent about $40 on taxes alone. That’s $40, or about six boxes of tampons, that could have provided necessary care to people in need.
There are about 3,505,736 women living in Tennessee. While not all women menstruate and not all menstruators are women, that’s over 3 million people who will pay, are paying, or have paid an extra 7 percent for basic human needs. These items are absolute necessities for over 50% of the population and should not be taxed out of reach.
It’s high time our government supports the menstruators across our state. Join us in the effort to end the tampon tax in Tennessee, and share this petition with your friends!
Let’s bring the Menstrual Movement to Tennessee, and POWER TO THE PERIOD!
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All credit to the students and activists leading this movement and pushing for legislative action. Special credit to the #FreeThePeriodCA organization for creating the template for this petition.