Sports board removes menstrual questions for Florida athletes after scathing criticism
READ MORE
Florida’s menstruation question controversy
A proposed draft of a physical education form in Florida would have required all high school student athletes to disclose information regarding their menstrual history — a move drew pushback from opponents who say the measure would harm students and violate medical privacy laws.
The Florida High School Athletic Association’s 16-member board of directors had scheduled a vote on this issue in late February. The board, however, held an emergency meeting Thursday, Feb. 9 to discuss the FHSAA proposal.
Expand All
The Florida High School Athletic Association Thursday walked back a controversial proposal to require female high school athletes to disclose information regarding their menstrual history, following scathing criticism from students, parents, physicians, advocacy organizations and some lawmakers.
The FHSAA Board of Directors voted 14-2 during an emergency meeting to instead require students to submit just one page to schools to indicate if they are healthy enough to compete, or only able to participate partially, with their doctor signing off. Board members Chris Patricca and Charlie Ward cast the two dissenting votes. The menstrual questions will be removed from the form.
The vote came after the board listened to emails from more than 150 people during the public comment period, the overwhelming majority of them deriding the board for its initial proposal. The majority urged the board to adopt the recommendation to omit questions related to a student’s menstruation. Most speakers said the information should be kept between the parents, student and medical professional — not the schools.
“It is a gross and an extremely sexist invasion of privacy,’’ wrote one Miami-Dade parent of the board’s proposed mandate requiring female high school athletes to report their menstrual history or potentially be banned from playing sports in Florida.
The new one-page physical evaluation form, recommended by the association’s executive director Craig Damon earlier this week, omits any details about a player’s menstrual cycle. The school will still keep the form.
Notably, a question requiring student athletes to report their “sex assigned at birth” appears to have been quietly approved with no mention of the change by board members during the meeting, as first reported by the Palm Beach Post Thursday.
The previous form — which included the optional, though now rejected questions about a student’s menstrual history — asked athletes only to indicate their sex.
The FHSAA governs all high school sports in Florida, both at public and private schools. Its 16-member board is made up of 14 men and 2 women. Florida’s education commissioner, handpicked by Gov. Ron DeSantis, sits on the board and appoints three members. The other 12 are elected from schools and include school athletic directors.
Member Doug Dodd, who is a father of three daughters, said he had “a real problem” with mandating the menstrual questions, and as a school board member in Citrus County, he said he didn’t believe the information needed to be shared with schools.
Patricca, a school board member in Lee County, said she did not support the removal of the questions, arguing student athletes are “safer and better protected” by their inclusion. However, she agreed the information should be kept between the student, family and medical provider.
Indeed, questions regarding a student’s menstrual history have appeared in the state’s athletics participation form for more than two decades, but have been optional.
READ MORE: Doctors raise concerns over Florida possibly requiring student athletes’ menstrual info
‘Gross overreach’ by board
Much of the public comment portion honed in on a few themes: “gross overreach,” sensitive information for young people that should be kept private and a perceived effort by the board to embarrass, degrade and dissuade female athletes from participating in sports.
“Hey, what in the world are you thinking? …. Get this off your agenda and issue a press release to say you’re sorry,” wrote a parent who has a daughter who plays high school sports.
Multiple people suggested that if the menstruation question is required, information about male students’ ejaculation also be collected. Several of the emails threatened lawsuits. Others, still, suggested what they viewed to likely be pressure from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, which the board rebuked.
READ MORE: Florida athletes may soon be required to submit their menstrual history to schools
“We felt no pressure [from the governor’s office]. I just want to make that clear,” stated FHSAA board President John Gerdes. In regard to curtailing females from participating in sports, that “couldn’t be further from the truth,” he noted.
On Monday, the governor’s press secretary responded to a Herald inquiry and said in an email that the “governor’s office is not involved in this matter and incidentally I believe a question like this is used by most other states across the nation.”
According to a Palm Beach Post investigation, 35 states pose menstrual history questions to student athletes and require them to turn in the information to their schools to play. How the forms are stored is determined by state athletic associations and school districts.
Nonetheless, several state representatives denounced the board for even considering such a proposal. Fentrice Driskell, the Florida Democratic House leader, wrote a letter saying the board’s initial proposal to mandate menstrual information was “an egregious overreach.”
Pushback from physicians
Thursday’s decision comes less than one month after the association announced it would consider a revised physical evaluation form that would require high school student athletes to reveal their menstruation history, a move some opponents said would harm students, particularly those in the LGTBQ+ community.
Doctors were outraged, noting that requiring students to submit this information on a paper form — sometimes stashed in boxes in school athletic offices that were open to anyone — would violate medical privacy laws. Moreover, physicians who specialize in female gynecological issues also said irregularities in a girl’s menstrual flow do not affect her ability to play sports.
On Thursday, the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FCAAP) praised the decision, arguing it “ensures that protected medical information, including menstrual history, will be maintained in the clinical setting, and will be held in the strictest of confidence in accordance with federal law.”
The mandate, which was to be considered by the board Feb. 26-27 in Gainesville, would have required female students to answer questions regarding their menstrual cycle, such as 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 proposed mandate, however, “created concerns and questions from parents, school district administrators, school board members and coaches regarding the health privacy of student-athletes,” the agenda item for Thursday’s meeting noted. The association understands “it is vital to protect the privacy” of all student-athletes; it also recognizes the “important role medical history plays in a pre-participation physical examination.”
Lawmakers react
On Tuesday, the same day the board announced Damon’s recommendation to omit the questions, 30 Florida legislators, led by Driskell, called on the FHSAA to rescind its proposal to include information about student athletes’ menstrual periods.
On Thursday, following the board’s vote, a handful issued their support.
Rep. Christine Hunschofsky, a Democrat who represents Parkland and other parts of Broward County, was among the 30 members to sign the letter. She posted on Twitter saying she was grateful for the association’s decision and proud to have supported “this change and to protect the privacy of these student-athletes.”
Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, who also represents parts of Broward County, thanked the association’s leadership for “having the wisdom and fortitude to reject the bizarre, outrageous, and inappropriate recommendation regarding mandated period tracking for female athletes — and for not only soliciting but actually listening to public testimony,” she said in a statement.
READ MORE: Here’s what Florida female high school athletes may be made to report on menstrual cycles
Sen. Lori Berman, a Democrat who represents parts of Palm Beach County, reiterated a common sentiment shared by the public Thursday: The medical evaluations “must be considered sensitive patient health information, and be retained only by the student’s physician.” The submission of only the medical eligibility form, she added, “ensures young athletes can safely play sports and their personal medical records remain private.”
Rep. Anna Eskamani, however, who also signed the letter Tuesday, was less eager to applaud the board’s move. On Twitter, the Orlando Democrat said, “Good to know the ENTIRE reason why the [association] was willing to collect EVERYONE’s period data was because they are targeting trans kids. Looks like they found another way to do it.”
She was referencing the new question on the form that now requires student athletes to report their “sex assigned at birth.”
Miami Herald staff reporter Ana Ceballos contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 9, 2023 at 12:49 PM.
.jpg)
