California certainly has their priorities. If stores with 500 employees don’t create a gender-neutral toy section, they will be fined.

California stores with more than 500 employees will soon be fined for not having a “gender-neutral” toy section once a new state law kicks in Jan. 1.

The bill, signed in 2021 by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, will force stores that sell childcare items or toys to pay a $500 fine should the store fail to create a gender-neutral toy section for kids 12 years old and under.

A childcare item, according to the legislation text, “means any product designed or intended by the manufacturer to facilitate sleep, relaxation, or the feeding of children, or to help children with sucking or teething.”

Let me tell you something, if a baby is having trouble falling asleep, or is teething, that child doesn’t care whether the stuffed animal or teething ring is gender-neutral or not. The baby just wants relief from the teething pain or to go to sleep. Not to mention the fact that a baby has ZERO idea as to what boy, girl, or gender-neutral actually is. 

But California has priorities! All because of, evidently, a 10-year old girl. 

The law says that the gender-neutral section, which can be labeled at the discretion of the retailer, must offer “a reasonable selection of the items and toys for children,” regardless of whether the toys or other items have been traditionally marketed to girls or boys. This means that toys that have previously been categorized as girls or boys toys can be placed in the gender-neutral section and be labeled by product type, such as action figures or dolls, instead of gender.

~Snip

California Assemblymember Evan Low, the bill’s author, told the Associated Press in 2021 that he was inspired by the 10-year-old daughter of one of his staffers, who asked her mom why certain items in the store were “off limits” to her because she was a girl.

“If a little girl wants a science kit or a dinosaur to play with, she shouldn’t have to ask her parent if she can go to the ‘boy’s department,’” Low told VERIFY in a statement.

First of all, who will be policing this? Who will decide if the retailer has made the appropriate and reasonable accommodations to cater to the pearl-clutching few? Who will decide if the labeling is correct?

Which balloon colors or teething rings will fit the criteria? Which card and board games will be moved to the woke toy section? 

And what will be the criteria if the store fails and the fine of $250 or $500 per store is decided upon? 

Secondly, please point out to me what store has EVER blocked a girl from going into the boys toy section and vice versa? Where and when has this ever happened? Guess what boys and girls, it hasn’t. In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that either Evan Low or his staffer made the story up because narratives!

That said, California sure does have their priorities in place. Let’s fine retailers if they don’t comply with woke agendas, and raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. 

People on the left are correct that the minimum wage is a social justice issue. It's just in the opposite way that they think it is.

These hikes consistently hurt the poorest & most vulnerable. Time after time, they lose their jobs. Well-intentioned, sure. Still disastrous. https://t.co/p4A3McXLrl

— Billy Binion (@billybinion) December 27, 2023

Keep in mind, California’s priorities have allowed retail theft to run rampant. Thus many stores such as Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Target, Nordstrom, Gump’s, and more have closed up shop around the state.

Not to mention the fact that, in spite of Gavin’s shrill assertions to the contrary during last month’s debate, top wage earners as well as many from the middle-class are fleeing the state for Texas, Florida and elsewhere. 

Yet, even as the California legislature is bleeding the state dry with taxes and asinine regulations, they will persist in pushing forth agendas that actually harm the economy. Furthermore, there is the issue of compelling speech. 

https://twitter.com/MarinaMedvin/status/1739979458293923868

As Jonathan Turley points out, the state is deciding what will the business should and shouldn’t be carrying and how to label the products they sell. 

The question is whether a state can compel a company to sell items that it or its customers consider to be morally offensive. If so, what is the limit on such state power? While these are not expressive products created by the owners, it is still compelling the store to associate with such products and their inherent message or values.

In other words, BAKE THE CAKE. 

Here’s another reason why this legislation is absurd. 

According to the legislation, “Keeping similar items that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys separated makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the products and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate.”

Evidently when shopping for toys for our kids or grandkids, we are just too stupid to understand how to compare the similarities or differences between the products if they are placed in the “wrong” section of the store. 

If California is so interested in pushing for a gender-neutral toy section, perhaps they should just open up a store dedicated to that proposition. I’d give it four months before they have to close up shop.

Feature Photo Credit: Toys on shelf via iStock, cropped and modified