A new bill being proposed in Califonia will potentially affect the way stores are organized in the future. How? Well, in layman’s terms, the state is looking for large retailers to go genderless.
Under Assembly Bill 1084, retailers with 500 or more employees will be required “to maintain undivided areas of its sales floor where the majority of those items being offered are displayed, regardless of whether an item has traditionally been marketed for either girl or boys” according to the Legislative Counsel’s digest of the bill.
Basically, there will not be any more individualized “toys for girls” and “toys for boys.”
According to The Sacramento Bee, the bill will also prohibit manufactures from labeling a toy specifically for one gender. “Online retailers with a physical presence in California would be required to label their toy and child care sections in a unisex or gender-neutral way.”
If passed, the bill will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. If retailers do not cooperate, a $1,000 civil penalty more than likely occurs, as written in the bill’s provisions.
Democrats Evan Low, who chairs the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, and Cristina Garcia, who chairs the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, co-authored the bill.
