The São Paulo Court of Justice (TJSP) determined that the city hall include male trans students in the law that creates the municipal sanitary pad distribution program. The direct action of unconstitutionality (Adin) was filed by the PSOL, which requested that the text of the law be changed so that it refers not only to the female gender. The decision, taken in a special body of the TJ, was unanimously upheld.
Law 388/2021 was enacted in July last year. The objective is to combat truancy during the menstrual period. According to the city hall, the measure is focused on socially vulnerable people who cannot purchase personal hygiene items. A study by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) reveals that in Brazil, one in four elementary school students misses classes during their menstrual period because they do not have money to buy sanitary pads.
In a message on Twitter, councilor Erika Hilton considered the decision a victory. “Justice of SP, provoked by action formulated by my mandate and signed by PSOL, unanimously decides to force the city hall to include trans men in policy of distribution of sanitary pads”, said the councilor.
For the rapporteur of the action, judge Matheus Fontes, the promotion of health and well-being does not involve discrimination based on sex. “The legal protection of individuals and collectivities cannot discriminate unfairly on the basis of sex, and must be comprehensive and inclusive of different roles that freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity provide, making anachronistic taxonomies succumb,” Fontes said.
THE Brazil Agency requested a position from the city of São Paulo, but there was no response until the publication of the text.
