Representative Stan McClain, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, has proposed a bill that would ban the discussion of menstrual cycles in schools before the sixth grade.
The proposed bill, labeled House Bill 1069, would require that “instruction on sexual health, such as health education, sexually transmitted diseases and human sexuality, ‘only occur in grades 6 through 12’” according to an article from the Washington Post titled “Florida bill would ban young girls from discussing periods in school”.
Currently, the state’s legislation surrounding sexual education requires “district school boards to provide comprehensive health education that among other issues addresses community health, personal health, and the prevention and control of disease” according to Florida House Bill Number CS/CS/HB 545 “Reproductive Health and Disease Education”.
It continues that “Comprehensive health education also includes ‘family life’ under which Florida law requires education to include an awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy”.
The current law also requires school districts to notify parents of students within the public school system “of their right to exempt their child from the teaching of reproductive health or any disease, including HIV/AIDS, through the submission of a written request”.
The bill’s proposal has led to tension between members of the Florida House of Representatives.
Democratic Representative Ashley Gantt questioned the impact McClain’s proposed bill may have on young girls in school.
Gantt inquired “So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in fifth grade or fourth grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in the grade lower than sixth grade?” according to the article from the Washington Post.
McClain then confirmed the intent of the bill, stating that it would prohibit conversations surrounding menstrual cycles. He later clarified that the intent of the bill is not to “punish girls if they came to teachers with questions or concerns about their menstrual cycle, adding that he’d be ‘amenable’ to amendments if they were to come up” as the article continues.
On Wednesday, March 15, the proposed bill passed the Republican controlled chamber with a vote of 13-5 largely along party lines.
In an Instagram reel dated March 16 from Gantt’s official account, @ganttforflorida, Gantt made her stance on this bill clear. In the reel, filmed in the Florida House session, she stated that “I believe this bill is a regressive bill in our education. It will deny elementary school students from understanding that people touching them in inappropriate places is not ok”.
Gantt continued, “These children are vulnerable. These children don’t have the language yet if they’re not taught and we’re subjecting them to this bill”.
Gantt’s discontent for the proposed bill was echoed by many, including the policy and political director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Annie Filkowski.
According to the Washington Post article, Filkowski stated that “young Floridians will suffer if this bill becomes law”.
House Bill 1069 also calls for teachers to teach that a person’s sex is “the classification of a person as either female or male based on the organization of the body of such person for a specific reproductive role, as indicated by the person’s sex chromosomes, naturally occurring sex hormones, and internal and external genitalia present at birth”.
It would require that instructors teach that “reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable”, the importance of abstinence, that each student has the power to control their own behavior, and materials that are deemed appropriate for the grade and age of the student as approved by the Florida Department of Education.
The House 1069 bill will next appear on the floor of the Florida House of Representatives. Should it pass in the House, it will proceed into the state’s Senate.
If House 1069 is passed in the Senate as well, it will continue on to the desk of the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis.