Floor space at popular retailers may soon be required to stop separating boys from girls’ toys, clothing, and other children’s items if the bill introduced by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) and Cristina Garcia (D–Los Angeles) is approved, according to media reports.
AB-1084 Gender-neutral retail departments would fine stores with 500 or more workers $1,000 for non-compliance.
“A girls or boys sign suggests to half of all children that a particular toy is not for them, and therefore potentially halves the market for that toy,” said Tessa Trabue on behalf of Let Toys Be Toys, an international parent-led grassroots campaign.
Neither Low nor Garcia responded immediately to requests for comment.
Reason.com reported that the new rule, if passed, also extends to online sales and would require retailers to dedicate a webpage to boys' and girls' products without separating them by gender.
“It might be easier for shoppers to find what they are looking for if the signs describe the toys in that section, such as Games, Arts and Crafts, Dolls and Soft Toys,” Trabue told the Southern California Record.
While the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) California declined to comment, the organization did disclose that it had succeeded in defeating Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson’s attempt last year to pass a gender-based pricing bill.
Senate Bill 873 would have banned businesses from employing a pink tax, which involves discriminating against a person’s gender with respect to the price charged for any two consumer products from the same manufacturer that are alike if they are priced differently based on the gender of the individuals for whose use it is marketed.
“We think these signs are limiting children's interests, and are based on gender stereotypes,” Trabue said. “For example, what makes a science kit a boy’s toy?”