When I was living in Ecuador, there was a World Cup Soccer qualifying match in the capital city of Quito, where I was living at the time. Ecuador was playing Columbia. The entire city ground to a halt. I walked into one of the very few tiendas that was open during the match—because, seriously, everyone closed up shop to watch or listen or attend—as the match was ending. The lights were out. The mood was downtrodden. The shopkeeper said a single word to me: Perdimos.
We lost.
That's pretty much all I have to say right now about the effort to repeal the Tampon Tax in Wyoming.
Perdimos.
They didn't hear from enough of us. So they didn't take it seriously. So the bill failed in committee moments ago.
The Tampon Tax is discriminatory. Only people who menstruate are forced to pay it.
But what men in Wyoming seem to have heard is an attempt to remedy existing discrimination is somehow oppressive to them. I say that specifically because a (male) committee member suggested that the bill discriminates against men because they're not specifically included. He suggested that all hygiene products be exempt from taxation.
Strangely, neither the Senator who brought the bill—Senator Affie Ellis—nor Sen. Wendy Schuler, who is the lone woman on the committee, seemed comfortable pointing out that the bill actually *reverses* existing discrimination.
Final vote: 2-3. Your yes votes: Sens. Wendy Stephan Pappas. Your no votes, Sens. Fred Baldwin, Cale Case, Tom James.
So, together, we still have a lot of work to do. A lot.
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