A bill recently introduced in California has the potential to change the way toy stores operate in a significant way. Assembly Bill 1084 proposes a mandatory gender-neutral store design for toy stores throughout California. If this bill passes, stores will be prohibited from having boys’ and girls’ sections and must have undivided areas on their sales floors where items are displayed, regardless of their traditional marketing for either gender.
Retailers with 500 or more employees will be required to follow the dictate, and noncompliance could result in a $1,000 fine.
This bill would not only affect physical retail locations but online stores as well. If passed, these retailers would need to advertise their children’s products under gender-neutral categories like “kids” or “unisex” rather than dividing goods by boys and girls. Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia and Assemblyman Evan Low, both Democrats, co-authored the bill. Garcia chairs the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, while Low chairs the California Legislative LGBT Caucus.
The bill will not go into effect until January 2024 if California Governor Gavin Newsome signs it into law. It is worth noting that a previous version of the bill was introduced in 2020 but was tabled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Low was inspired by Target’s decision to remove “gendered” children’s sections from its stores in 2015, and he believes this bill will help create a safe space for children in society today.
Low’s nine-year-old daughter was the impetus behind the bill. She asked him why she had to go into the boys’ section of a store to find a science-themed toy, and this made him realize the need for safe spaces for children in today’s society. Conservative opponents of the bill argue that California lawmakers are “wasting time on trivial legislation” and that there are more pressing issues facing California, such as homelessness and crime. However, lawmakers believe that the way stores organize their products by gender negatively affects children, and this bill could help to address that problem.
Source: AWM
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