Florida School Districts Are Requiring Students to Provide Records of Their Menstrual Cycle to Play Sports

Florida school districts are receiving nationwide backlash for requiring students to provide records of their menstrual cycle to play sports. While districts have asked for menstrual records for over two decades, they have used handwritten forms until 2022. The state’s recent switch to digital forms raised red flags about student privacy. Critics of the policy say the change puts trans and reproductive rights at risk.

In addition to asking about relevant medical information like a history of allergies and seizures, the form has a section labeled “female athletes only,” which asks students when their last period was, how many periods they had in the past year, and the longest time they’ve had between periods. In its digital forms, this information will be collected through Aktivate, a privately owned software company. Student data can also be accessed by law enforcement via a subpoena. Nevertheless, the app claims its data is secure.

Florida’s anti-LGBTQ laws heighten the stakes of protecting this data. In June, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that would ban trans athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Instead, they would have to play on the team that fits the gender they were assigned at birth. Trans women, who may not have periods, could essentially risk outing themselves with these forms, leading to serious consequences for their mental health.

The Cleveland Clinic recommends that to help with gender dysphoria, the mental complications that come with living as a gender you don’t identify with, trans kids surround themselves with people who affirm their gender identity. Being forced to play for the team that corresponds to their sex at birth would be incredibly harmful for trans kids. This point has been echoed by the more than 100 officials who asked DeSantis not to sign the law as well as LGBTQ advocacy groups. Gina Duncan, director of transgender equality for Equality Florida, explained the law “makes life more dangerous for those who are already at the highest risk of violence.”

The nationwide controversy over trans athletes also puts a target on the backs of out athletes. Trans swimmer Lia Thomas drew the ire of conservatives for excelling on the University of Pennsylvania women’s swimming team. The Los Angeles Blade reported that the conservative channel Fox News was especially laser focused on Thomas, dedicating a quarter of the segments on its “straight news” programs to her. Their coverage included misgendering and deadnaming Thomas.

Florida’s anti-choice legislation also heightens the importance of keeping this data private. Over the summer, the Florida state government instated a 15-week abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest. The law targets abortion providers, stating they could face up to five years in prison for performing an illegal abortion, but we’ve already seen in other states how digital data has played a role in criminalizing young people for getting abortions. For example, the state of Nebraska used Facebook data to charge a mother and her 17-year-old daughter with seeking out an illegal abortion. States including Texas, Oklahoma, and Idaho have abortion bans enforced by citizens. In the process individuals are allowed to access others’ personal data to help argue their case. In these instances period data could be essential to a successful suit against a provider or putting a provider in jail.

As president of the Palm Beach County Democratic Women’s Club, Joan Waitkevicz, told The Palm Beach Post, requiring students to provide records of their menstrual cycle to play sports is “anti-choice and anti-trans politics rolled into one.” Collecting information on student athlete menstruation may seem innocuous or even standard practice in the best interest of their health, but, in the hands of a state government that has made overt attempts to oppress both cis women and trans folks, this data could cost already marginalized people their lives and mental health.