Menstrual disclosures opposed
A proposed draft of a physical education form in Florida could require all high school student athletes to disclose information regarding their menstrual history – a move that is already drawing pushback from opponents who say the measure would harm students.
The draft – published last month by the Florida High School Athletic Association, a group that oversees interscholastic athletic programmes across the state – proposes making currently optional questions regarding a student’s menstrual cycle mandatory, as reported by the Palm Beach Post.
The form, if approved, would ask students if they’ve had a menstrual cycle, and if so, at what age they had their first menstrual period, their most recent menstrual period and ‘‘how many periods [the student has] had in the past 12 months’’.
The questions have appeared in the state’s athletics participation form for more than two decades, but have been optional.
‘‘This is clearly an effort to further stigmatise and demonise transgender people in sports (and) meant to further exclude people who aren’t assigned female at birth in girls sports,’’ said Maxx Fenning, president of PRISM, a South Florida nonprofit organisation that provides sexual health information to LGBTQ+ youth. ‘‘Beyond that, I think there’s concern among LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ [students] alike. This is an extremely invasive mode of gleaning someone’s reproductive history, which is especially dangerous in this postRoe world we live in.’’
Issues related to school districts and the LGBTQ+ community have become more contentious over the past year. Last March, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education law, dubbed by critics as Florida’s ‘‘Don’t say gay’’ bill, which prohibits instruction related to gender identity or sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade and potentially restricting such instruction for older children. A few months later, the Miami-Dade School Board voted overwhelmingly against recognising October as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer history month, even though the board had voted 7-1 to recognise that designation the previous school year.
The FHSAA board is set to discuss the potential mandate on February 26-27 in Gainesville.
The recommendation comes months after a Palm Beach Post investigation showed some school districts stored the student information online.
Following the Post’s report, FHSAA’s sports medicine committee faced pressure to recommend updates to Florida’s athlete registration form. Earlier this month, the committee recommended that all pages of the form, including a student’s menstruation history, be turned over to their schools. – TNS