California may soon force large department stores to display some children’s products in California Gender neutral On Wednesday, the state legislature passed a bill aimed at getting rid of traditional pink and blue marketing programs such as toys and toothbrushes.
The bill will not ban the traditional boys and girls section of department stores, but it will require retailers to have a gender-neutral section to display “reasonable choice” merchandise, “whether traditionally sold for girls or boys.”
The bill only applies to department stores with 500 or more employees, so most small businesses will be exempted. It also does not apply to clothes, but only applies to toys and “child care products”, including hygiene products and teething products.
The State Senate passed the bill on Wednesday and sent it back to Parliament for a procedural vote before submitting it to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom. According to the office of Rep. Evan Low, the author of the bill, if the bill becomes law, California will become the first state to require the use of these parts in stores.
This is at least the third time California legislators have tried to pass this bill, and previous versions failed in 2019 and 2020. Low, a Democrat from Campbell, said that this measure was inspired by a 10-year-old girl named Britton. Mother works in his legislative office.
“Britton asked her mother when she was shopping why certain things in the store were’forbidden areas’ for her, because she was a girl, but it would be fine if she was a boy,” Luo said. “Fortunately, my colleagues recognize the pure intent of this bill and the need for children to be children.”
Some large retailers are already rethinking how to display their products. Target Corp., which has 1,914 stores in the United States, announced in 2015 that it would stop using some gender-based signs in its stores.
The California Retail Association declined to comment on the bill on Wednesday. Some conservative groups raised formal objections. The Republican State Senator Melissa Melendez from Lake Elsinore voted against the bill, saying she would “suggest that we let our parents be parents.”
“Unlike the author, I actually have children, five to be precise, and I can tell you that this is very convenient for parents,” she said. “I don’t think parents need the government to step in and tell them how to shop for their children.”
Senator Scott Wiener, a Democratic senator from San Francisco, said that although he and Jho Low are both “childless gay men,” he defended their right to express opinions about their children and family.
“We know what it should be when you grow up that doesn’t match your gender,” he said, adding: “This is to create a safe space for all children in today’s society, not to promote and sometimes force children to conform.”
Although the law will require large department stores to comply, the penalty for non-compliance will be light. Starting in 2024, prosecutors can impose a fine of up to $250 for a first offense and a fine of up to $500 for a second offense. These will be civil penalties, not criminal penalties. The store may also end up having to pay reasonable attorney fees and costs.
© 2021 Canadian Press
