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Major retailers in California are now required to have an aisle dedicated to gender-neutral toys under a law that took effect New Year’s Day.
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the law in 2021. It requires any store that sells toys and has at least 500 employees “to maintain a gender-neutral section or area to be labeled at the discretion of the retailer.”
Any store that doesn’t comply could face a $250 penalty for the first violation and up to $500 for subsequent violations.
The law says “keeping similar items that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys separated makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the product and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate.”
Stores can still display traditional boys’ and girls’ sections, but a third, gender-neutral section must be created for children 12 years old and younger.
Assemblyman Evan Low, Campbell Democrat, introduced the legislation after a daughter of one of his staff members asked why she had to go to the boys’ section to get certain toys, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Part of it is to make sure if you’re a young girl that you can find a police car, fire truck, a periodic table or a dinosaur,” Mr. Low said. “And then similarly, if you’re a boy, if you’re more artistic and want to play with glitter, why not? Why should you feel the stigma of saying, ’Oh, this should be shamed’ and going to a different location?”
Greg Burt, vice president of the California Family Research Council, a conservative public policy nonprofit group, told Fox News that the law “violates the First Amendment.”
“You got the government now dictating the signage in stores, about what words can be used to advertise products,” Mr. Burt said. “This is opening a Pandora’s box.”
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