The director of The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services resigned and an assistant he hired was fired Wednesday after Arizona-Sonora News Service published an article where the new hire said menstrual cycles might be too problematic for women to be in combat.

While Joey Strickland resigned after the article on the new hire, former Tucson lawmaker Terri Proud, a spokesman for the governor’s office said it’s fair to say the Governor’s Office was concerned about her remarks.

“It’s fair to say that we voiced concerns regarding our learning of a recent hire of his via the news media,” said Matt Benson, spokesman for the Governor’s Office.

Hiring Proud in the first place went against specific instructions from the Governor’s Office. Benson said the governor had warned Strickland not to hire Proud.

“Col. Strickland was given very specific instructions about a year ago to avoid hiring this individual. He chose to do so anyway and unfortunately that individual’s questionable judgment was on display this week with some ill chosen public remarks regarding women in the military,” Benson said.

Benson didn’t say why the Governor’s Office didn’t want Proud hired.

Proud has a reputation for being controversial. She gained national attention during her time in the Legislature for a viral email exchange where she said women who want abortions should have to watch one first.

Proud, whom Strickland hired to start in May as an administrative assistant, told Arizona-Sonora News Service, “Women have certain things during the month I’m not sure they should be out there dealing with. I don’t know how to address that topic in a very diplomatic manner.”

The comment was taken “way out of context,” Proud said.

Proud said the comment wasn’t intended to bash anyone, though that appears to be how the comment was taken. She posted on Facebook that the firing apparently came after activists called the Governor’s Office.

Benson said he didn’t have a feel for whether or not the governor was getting many calls about the issue.

“I don’t have a problem with women being on the front line if that’s their choice,” Proud said. “I’m not going to sit there and say no you don’t have that right. I was making a funny comment, ‘What are they going to do?”

How menstrual cycles are handled is a curiosity she has, Proud said, noting that whether or not that hurdle is being addressed is a real issue even if it isn’t talked about. Women are designed differently than men and need to have their needs met on the front lines, she said.

Proud said no one had called her to ask her about the comment, she was just fired.

“For the Governor’s Office to do this because of an article that was written is asinine. It’s wrong,” Proud said.

Strickland said he wasn’t emotionally ready to talk about the job loss yet.

Benson said Gov. Brewer is grateful for Strickland’s service and that the department will now be going in a different direction.

Deputy Director Robert Barnes will be stepping in for Strickland in the interim.

Strickland had been with the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services since 2008, according to his LinkedIn account.

Proud said she is “absolutely devastated,” about losing the job, especially since she fought for women veterans during her time at the Legislature with her bill that created a specialty license plate for female veterans. The license plate doesn’t just raise awareness, she said, but gives money to help homeless female veterans.

—Bethany Barnes is the Don Bolles Fellow for Arizona-Sonora News Service

This article appears in Mar 28 – Apr 3, 2013.

18 replies on “Terri Proud Fired for Comments About Women’s Menstrual Cycles in Combat”

  1. Is free speech a myth? Does it exist? What is the true cost of censorship like this?
    Don’t know about y’all, but having careers ended because of speech, rather than deed, has me wondering if we have free speech, or even if we’ve ever had it !!!

  2. She was free to say what she said Mammey. She is now upset that she has to face the consequences of her stupidity. Does she (and apparently you) not understand that there have been women in combat, on the front lines, dealing with this “issue” as long as we have been fighting wars? Her complete stupidity as evidenced by her unbelievably stupid comment is more than enough reason for her dismissal. Hard to tell from your name Mammey if you are male or female but if you are male then you really don’t know what you are talking about. And of course if you are male it sure begs the question of why you would pick such a name. If you are female then I suggest you go talk with some women veterans about this issue so you can be informed. I am a male and I am a veteran, in case you wondered.

  3. Mammey, it might be better for her career to have ended as a result of poor judgement in words than if she had made poor judgement at work. Fewer people are affected that way.

  5. This is all “smoke and mirrors.” The governor’s office was looking for an excuse, ANY excuse to fire her. If you read the article you will find out that they were opposed to the hiring in the first place. Her comment was NOT the issue. Do you folks really trust government all that much? I do not.

  10. Given how ignorant she is about women’s health, perhaps it isn’t shocking that she doesn’t realize how common it is for women to use hormonal birth control to regulate or even stop menstruation altogether. Question answered.

  11. My opposition to her appointment was directly related to her “being uncomfortable” talking about women in combat and then linking that to women’s menstrual cycles. Women, in general, and in particular in the military, have been adapting and overcoming issues related to menstruation for centuries…..it’s not new.
    My problem with this appointment was her total ignorance of what military women do, what real challenges they face, and who they are as service members. These women who served, who have come home, and who have specific needs, deserve someone able to address their issues, instead of someon with her complete lack of knowledge about military women. The fact that the person who appointed her, Joey Strickland, has resigned his position is also a positive. Women veterans deserve someone who knows who they are and is dedicated to helping them succeed.

  13. If even one voter in the old LD26, who voted to elect Ms. Proud to the legislature in 2010, is able to see how poor a decision she/he made and becomes determined to do a better job of vetting candidates in future, the present tempest in a teapot will have served some positive purpose.

  14. come on how stupid can you get for admitting the truth,what on earth does a woman do in combat when she is on her period,as a matter of fact what does she do when she has to pee,pull down her briches in the middle of combat and say okay guys turn your heads and watch out for the enemy,come on get real not stupid..

  15. franklymydears: I’m one of those “proud” voters in the former LD26 who did not vote for Ms. Proud! It’s especially a commentary on that district that she won against Nancy Young Wright, someone who most affirmatively has a brain and knows how to use it.

    The former boundaries of the LD26 district included Oro Valley and SaddleBrooke, both fertile roosting grounds of the Tea Party nuts. Fortunately, since the redistricting, I’m no longer in a district whose voting is dominated by those individuals.

  16. They just are unable to control their mouths–every wacky idea that pops into their heads emerges from their mouths with no stop over in the brain. These are the people who are bringing about the end of the GOP.

  17. wow,are the comments above really made by intelligent people.is free speech really a myth or are certain subjects taboo.yes,yes I know that woman want to be seen as equal to men in all things but facts are facts and there are certain issues that people want to address.we know how Islamic men are towards woman and they are built different if anybody has noticed,not only the menstrual cycle but woman do have to pull down there britches when they have to pee also unlike men who can just pull it out discreetly.it is a little scary to think what would have happened if a man spoke is mind on the subject a lynching by a feminist group from what I have seen here.

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