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Florida Girls Won't Be Allowed to Talk About their Periods in School [1]

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Date: 2023-03-17  

Queenstown NZ (Nothing to do with the story; it's where we are this morning)

OK, I’m on vacation. Still. . . some things just get me so upset I have to let off steam from 10,000 miles away. This time it’s Florida, again, doing nasty things to the female half of the population just because it can:

Florida bill would ban young girls from discussing periods in school

House Bill 1069 would also require that instruction on sexual health, such as health education, sexually transmitted diseases and human sexuality, “only occur in grades 6 through 12,” which prompted [state Rep. Ashley] Gantt to ask whether the proposed legislation would prohibit young girls from talking about their periods in school when they first start having them. “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?” Gantt asked. [State Rep. Stan] McClain responded, “It would.”

To which Florida Planned Parenthood responded:

The political and policy director added:

“This bill shines a bright light on Florida’s political leaders’ perpetual thirst for power and control,” Filkowski said in a statement, adding that it was “ridiculous” to prohibit young girls from discussing menstruation with their teachers.

But wait, there’s more:

Restricting girls from talking about their periods in school is not the only item in McClain’s bill, which was introduced last month. The bill calls for schools to teach how “sex is determined by biology and reproductive function at birth” and “these reproductive roles are binary, stable, and unchangeable.” Part of the proposed legislation would require that the Florida Education Department approve all education materials used in sexual health. It would also give parents the right to limit the kinds of library books their children can check out.

I have to run now, so I’ll add a few thoughts: Part of this is about controlling girls/women. Another part of this trying to legislate biology, much as Florida has been trying to legislate history. In the case of biology, the motivation is that “God doesn’t make mistakes” and gender is binary because the Bible says so.

Last though: This isn’t just DeSantis, and it won’t go away if/when he does. This is a broader movement to erase science and history and other fact-based fields with religiously-inspired fantasy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/17/2158860/-Florida-Girls-Won-t-Be-Allowed-to-Talk-About-their-Periods-in-School

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