Major California toy retailers without “gender-neutral” sections will be fined hundreds of dollars under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s pro-LGBTQ bill.
Assembly Bill No. 1084, signed by Newsom in 2021, will be enacted on January 1, 2024, and will require stores that sell “childcare items or toys” for children aged 12 years or younger to display a gender-neutral section — or be fined up to $500.
Stores will be required by law to have designated gender-neutral toys “regardless of whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or for boys,” the bill states.
The legislation will apply to retailers with 500 or more employees, and those who fail to comply will be “liable for a civil penalty not to exceed $250 for a first violation or $500 for a subsequent violation.”