Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly ordered the removal of tampons from men’s bathrooms at the Meta offices in Silicon Valley, New York, and Texas.

Once available for trans and nonbinary employees who used the men’s bathroom, the tampons have been scrapped as part of Zuckerberg’s anti-LGBTQ+ policy spree, which appears to be in response to Donald Trump’s election victory.

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Black trans lawmaker asks UN to investigate Meta for new hate speech policies
Facebook and Instagram will soon explicitly allow homophobia and transphobia.

Last week, Zuckerberg announced that the company would be removing content moderators and fact-checkers and loosening restrictions on their hate speech policies, including allowing people to refer to LGBTQ+ people as mentally ill.

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Then, on Friday, Meta announced that it would end DEI practices in hiring, training and picking suppliers. The company also reportedly deleted nonbinary and trans themes from its Messenger app, which until recently had been available for several years.

Zuckerberg also recently sat for an interview with the massively popular anti-LGBTQ+ podcaster Joe Rogan, during which he declared companies need more “masculine energy” and that he is “optimistic” about Trump’s second term because the president-elect “just wants America to win.” Zuckerberg is also one of several tech CEOs who has donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.

According to a report from the New York Times, Zuckerberg’s sweeping changes are the result of a series of confidential meetings the CEO planned with a small group of top executives that took place in December. It’s a departure from the way policymaking at the company is typically carried out (much more gradually and with input from employees and other leaders).

Many employees are angry. One told 404 Media, “No one is excited or happy about these changes. And obviously the employees who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community are especially unhappy and feel the most unsupported in this. A small number of people are taking time off and are sharing that they are considering leaving the company due to this change.”

Another one told the same outlet, “I find it very hard to understand how explicitly carving out which groups of marginalized people can have what we otherwise classify hate speech directed at them will be beneficial for the communities we hope to build on our platforms.”

President Joe Biden even called out Zuckerberg for removing fact-checking policies, saying the decision is “shameful.”

Several employees told the Times that Zuckerberg’s massive shift is in part to prepare Meta for the Trump era but also that it reflects his personal views and that “he no longer wants to keep those views quiet.” It seems safe to assume Zuckerberg feels emboldened by the election results to do whatever he wants.

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