In Florida, high school girls in athletics are asked to report their period history on a form. A questioning practice.
By ThePoint.fr
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“QHow old were you when you had your first period? “When did you last have your period?” “How many periods have you had in the past 12 months?” “…are all questions that high school girls practicing athletics in Florida, USA, may soon be forced to answer, according to the Time.
For more than 20 years, high school girls in this state have had to fill out a medical questionnaire containing these questions about menstruation every school year. Only, if their answer was previously optional, the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) has announced that it wants to make them compulsory. And if the young women were to refuse to answer, they could then be deprived of a medical certificate and therefore of their sports practice.
A decision widely rejected by the population and in particular by defenders of transgender people, even though a bill aims to ban transgender students from playing in women’s sports teams in Florida.
Questions that raise concern
Already, last year, and even though there was no question of making this data compulsory, the local media The Palm Beach Post reported the fears raised by these questions. He explained that parents and doctors were concerned to see this personal information known by the district – and not only by the doctor – in a context where the political landscape tends to “criminalize abortions” and “scrutinize” transgender athletes and where “the medical privacy is increasingly under threat”.
“Paediatricians are appalled that sensitive medical information is being stored with the school district for coaches to see,” the reporters wrote. The Palm Beach Post.
As a result of this article, the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) had committed to reviewing its questions and how their answers were stored. It should finally decide on their mandatory nature after two public meetings scheduled for February 26 and 27.