Florida lawmakers are considering a draft law to strengthen state control over sex education that its sponsor says would ban any instruction in schools about menstrual cycles before the sixth grade.
The proposal comes as Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature, backed by Governor Ron DeSantis, has already passed a
raft of laws limiting discussion in schools of gender and sexuality and reducing the emphasis on diversity in public schools.
The latest proposal, from Republican Stan McClain, would allow instruction in “acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, or health education” only in grades six through 12, generally meaning for children aged 12 to 18.
McClain confirmed at a recent committee meeting that discussions about menstrual cycles would also be restricted to those grades.
Girls typically have their first periods between the ages of 10 and 15, but some do so as young as nine.
“Imagine a little girl in fourth grade, going to the bathroom and finding blood in her panties and thinking that she is dying,” state representative Ashley Gantt, a Democrat, said in a video posted on Instagram.
“She doesn’t actually know what’s going on. And her teacher does not even have the ability to tell her that this is a part of life.”
“So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in 5th grade or 4th grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in the grade lower than sixth grade?” asked Gantt.
“It would,” McClain responded.
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That's just icky girly stuff no one wants to know about.
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