Dear John,

Florida student athletes will NOT be required to submit their menstrual history in order to play school sports.

We asked you to submit messages to the Florida High School Athletics Association (FHSAA) Board of Directors demanding they not implement this harmful and dangerous policy. Because you acted so quickly, we delivered more than 5,000 messages in less than 48 hours to the FHSAA Board of Directors, which held an emergency vote on the policy on Thursday.

Thank you for taking action against Florida's gross attempt to force the collection of student menstrual data. But the fight’s not over yet.

Even though the FHSAA Board decided against requiring students to submit their menstrual history, they quietly moved from asking about a student’s sex to specifying that students must attest their “sex assigned at birth.” The Board couldn’t be more clear: at the root of the proposed requirement was an attempt to monitor trans students and violate their bodily autonomy.

So much is still at stake: we need to stay outraged and protect trans, nonbinary, and intersex students who just want to play sports alongside their peers without bullying and exclusion.

This work would not be possible without our state partners fighting against these violations. Please consider supporting Progress Florida Education Institute, which organized on the ground against the FHSAA’s harmful policy proposal and following Equality Florida for more ways to support LGBTQI+ youth.

Even though Florida students will not be required to report their menstrual history, any attack on trans and nonbinary students is an attack on gender justice. We’ll never stop fighting for the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQI+ individuals.

Thank you for joining us in this fight.

In solidarity,

Caitlin Panarella
she/her/hers
Campaigns Associate
National Women’s Law Center