Menstrual hygiene brand Always will be removing their female symbol from its packaging in a move to be more trans-inclusive, reported Metro.
The move came after the brand received criticism from transgender activists. An activist named Melly Boom on Twitter complained to the brand about the packaging in tweets that are no longer publicly available.
“Could someone from Always tell me why it is imperative to have the female symbol on their sanitary products,” Boom tweeted. “There are non-binary and trans folks who still need to use your products too, you know!”
Another trans activist, Ben Saunders, also wrote to the company complaining about the packaging and received a letter back from the company.
“We listened to you and our marketing team worked a solution,” the letter, which Boom shared to Twitter, read. “We are glad to inform you that as of December we will use a wrapper design without the feminine symbol.”
Anti-transgender activists have criticized the decision, with trans-exclusionary radical feminist Julie Bindel telling The Daily Mail: “Removing the female symbol from sanitary towel packaging is basically denying the existence of women.”
However, parent company Proctor & Gamble is sticking to their guns and defending their decision.
“For over 35 years, Always has championed girls and women, and we will continue to do so,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We’re also committed to diversity and inclusion, and we realize that not everyone who has a period and needs to use a pad identifies as female. That is why we wanted to ensure that anyone who needs to use a period product feels comfortable in doing so with Always.”