According to the New York Post, girls in Florida won’t have to reveal their menstrual cycle histories to participate in high school sports. During an emergency meeting, The Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors voted to remove questionnaires about the female athlete’s menstrual cycle from the mandate health form, reports CNN.
The decision was made following months of backlash regarding the new procedure that requires athletes to answer questions about personal information. Although the questions are still asked, it gives students the option not to answer.
Democratic state lawmakers said that the question is
“highly invasive,”
according to a letter to the FHSAA. Board members agreed that questions like,
“When was your first menstrual period?”
and
“How many periods have you had in the last year?”
wouldn’t be asked anymore.
The updated medical form feature would become effective next school year. The change came after attorneys for the association shared public comments about menstrual cycle questions, which were negative. Some people said that menstrual information could be weaponized against athletes who are transgender after the state banned trans girls from participating in sports with biological girls back in 2021.
According to an FHSAA agenda item,
“The intent of this proposal is to provide an updated … form which protects a student-athletes’s privacy while including pertinent medical information a health care provider at a member school would need access to.”
CNN reports the updated form would also request students to check off their
“sex assigned at birth,”
as opposed to just their sex, which ultimately determines a student’s biological gender.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
