California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Saturday a bill requiring large retailers to provide gender-neutral toy sections, per the Los Angeles Times. California is the first state to adopt such a law. AXIOS reported that LGBTQ advocates have pointed out that marketing methods using pink and blue hues “pressure children to conform to gender stereotypes,”
According to the Associated Press, The new law, signed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, does not outlaw traditional boys and girls sections at department stores. Instead, it says large stores must also have a gender-neutral section to display “a reasonable selection” of items “regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys.”
That does not include clothes. The law only applies to toys and “childcare items,” which include hygiene and teething products. And it only applies to stores with at least 500 employees, meaning small businesses are exempt.
Assemblyman Evan Low, a Democrat from San Jose who authored the bill, said he was “incredibly grateful” Newsom signed the bill this year — the third time Democrats in the state Legislature have tried to pass this law, with similar bills failing in 2019 and 2020.
Pink News stated that the law will go into effect on 1 January 2024. Any retailer who fails to introduce gender-neutral areas will be liable for a $250 fine for the first violation or $500 for subsequent violations.
Assemblyman Evan Low, an out Democrat lawmaker from San Jose who authored the bill, hoped the law would stop ‘stigmatising’ what toys and products are deemed as acceptable for certain genders and allow kids to just play.
“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,” Low told the Los Angeles Times. He added: “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?”
