To play in organised sports, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is forcing all female student-athletes in the state to disclose precise details on their periods. The Florida High School Athletic Association is considering an advisory committee’s recommendation, but a final decision has yet to be made. The association’s board of directors includes DeSantis’ education commissioner, who appoints three others, but the association is a private nonprofit corporation, not a state body under the governor’s control.
Florida Female Athletes’ Menstrual Cycles Should be Reported:
Social media users believe the hardline Republican governor, who has been an outspoken critic of transgender athletes, is using sports to stir up controversy as he considers a presidential candidature in 2024. Ron DeSantis wants female student-athletes to provide menstruation data. THIS IS INSANE!,” one Twitter user commented in a post. The federal government has no authority to order federal employees to wear masks. Also, Ron DeSantis: The government has every right to know when every single high school girl has her period,” claimed another Twitter user in a post that has received over 3,000 likes or shares as of Friday. “Ron DeSantis is the definition of hypocrisy and a creep!”
Ryan Harrison Statement:
The association’s spokesperson, Ryan Harrison, acknowledged that the revised recommendations were produced by its sports medical advisory group and adopted in late January. The association’s board of directors will now evaluate it at its next meeting, which will be held in Gainesville on February 26-27. The association is the official governing body for interscholastic sports in the state. Its board of directors includes a representative from the office of state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz, who DeSantis chose. Diaz also appoints three more to the 16-member board. Although the offices of DeSantis and Diaz did not reply to requests for comment this week, Harrison highlighted that the planned changes are not in reaction to worries about transgender athletes playing in women’s sports, as some social media users believe.
The proposed form amendments include four essential questions about menstruation, including whether the student has ever had a period, the age at which they had their first period, the date of their most recent period, and how many periods they’ve had in the previous year. Making the menstrual cycle questions mandatory rather than optional, according to Robert Sefcik, a member of the sports medicine advisory committee, is consistent with national guidelines for sports physicals developed by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Sports Medicine, and other organisations.
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