By Richard Hack
CINCINNATI–There is a packaging change ahead for Always, the female sanitary menstruation product. Its manufacturer, Procter & Gamble, removed the Venus symbol from the product’s box following calls from transgender advocates who claimed the symbol alienated trans and gender-nonconforming customers.
In what is just the latest in corporate accommodation to the learning curve that is growing as the LGBTQ community makes its presence more prominent, the move is “great,” according to Dr. Jack Turban, a resident physician in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In an email sent to NBC News, Turban added, “First of all, the symbol is unnecessary. Second of all, it sends a message to transgender and non-binary people who need these products that their identities are embraced and supported by the company.”
What may be seen as an insignificant gesture by some reflects the corporate giant’s sensitivity to inclusion and diversity, in what P&G called its “continual journey to understand the needs of all of our consumers.”
Steph deNormand, the Trans Health Manager at Boston-based Fenway Health,” said that, “Trans and nonbinary folks are constantly misgendered, and a gesture like this can broaden out the experiences and open up spaces for those who need the products.”