In Florida, a leaked draft of a physical education form revealed a mandatory question requiring all high school athletes to submit their menstrual cycle history. The Florida High School Athletic Association released the draft last month.
The group released the draft hoping it would be approved by high schools and make the question about menstrual cycles mandatory. The form would ask students if they had a menstrual cycle, when it began, and how many periods they had in the previous 12 months. According to the Miami Herald, the question was optional for two decades.
Additionally, the draft has faced criticism from LBGTQ+ advocacy groups as the questionnaire is seen as a target for transgender high school athletes. “This is clearly an effort to further stigmatize and demonize transgender people in sports [and] meant to exclude further people who aren’t assigned female at birth in girls sports,” PRISM President Maxx Fenning said to the outlet.
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Florida has faced its fair share of conservatives attempting to eliminate any “agendas” regarding the LBGTQ+ community. Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights Bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill, which bans teachers from creating lessons relating to gender identity and sexual orientation from kindergarten to third-grade classrooms.
The FHSAA is expected to discuss the possible mandate on February 26-27 in Gainsville. Some members expressed that high school coaches shouldn’t have access to student medical records since they aren’t medical providers.
Social media reacts to the physical education form and some compared it to the Hulu series ‘Handmaid’s Tale’
Following the release of the form’s draft last month, Twitter users expressed concern that high school students would be asked about their menstrual cycles to prevent some students from participating in high school sports. One user wrote, “The fascists in Florida are so transphobic that they’re making the girls submit information on their menstrual period and undergo genital inspections in order to compete in sports. All of that to avoid letting trans girls play with the cis girls. Evil, this is pure evil.
Another said, “When will the GOP stop infringing on our citizens’ privacy and start Governing? Why does Florida want to know the timing of a girl’s menstrual period? Who will know this information that would allow a pervert to rape without the fear of impregnating the girl? This has to STOP!”
Although DeSantis did not release a statement regarding the form, the proposed idea of it is not sitting well with certain Floridians.
When was @CaseyDeSantis last menstrual period? I hear that, in Florida, you have to report it.
— Michele Dalise (@MicheleDalise) February 3, 2023
So, Florida athletics wants data on the date of last menstrual period of all the schoolgirl athletes. And, *quite coincidentally* Florida is making its abortion laws more and more draconian. Woe betide anyone with a late period… https://t.co/Z5hLF3LogP
— Deborah (@deborah_c) January 28, 2023