California Orders Big Box Stores To Create ‘Gender-Neutral’ Section For Kids Products BY TYLER DURDEN for Zero Hedge
The Golden State has long burnished its reputation as the most “progressive” (at least when it comes to superficial posturing) state in the union by adopting ultra-strict emissions standards and gas taxes (which is why Californians pay $6 a gallon right now), offering official protection to sanctuary cities, and a host of other measures, including – most recently – outlawing bacon with some new ‘animal welfare’ law.
Meanwhile, homelessness and inequality are soaring in Cali as businesses and residents (most recently Tesla and Elon Musk) have fled for the exits, flocking to places like Texas and Florida.
Yet once again, Gov Gavin Newsom demonstrated Saturday just how out of touch the state’s leadership is when he signed into law one of the most ridiculous examples of government overreach in support of enforcing the “woke” agenda that we have ever seen. From here on out, any store in California with more than 500 employees (which essentially means all the big-box stores) are legally required to establish “gender-neutral” sections for a small range of products (essentially just toys and hygiene products).
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The law was inspired by “LGBT advocates” who claim that the colors pink and blue, when used in marketing, reinforce gender stereotypes that can be “harmful”.
The law will allow dividing clothing and other products into boys and girls’ sections (due to its obvious practicality) to continue. But clothing stores must also now include a “gender neutral” section as well.
As if business owners didn’t have enough on their hands dealing with COVID, the new law will require affected retailers to majorly reorganize, essentially forcing stores to shrink the sizes of their ‘boys’ and ‘girls’ sections while forcing them to place more items especially toys and things like razors that many complain have been subjected to the “pink tax”, in the new gender-neutral section.
The bill was written and championed by Evan Low, a Democrat state assemblyman representing Cali’s 28th district (in Silicon Valley). It was rejected twice before the governor ultimately signed it.
“We need to stop stigmatizing what’s acceptable for certain genders and just let kids be kids,” Low said. “My hope is this bill encourages more businesses across California and the US to avoid reinforcing harmful and outdated stereotypes.”
In reality, the law won’t have much practical effect at all since big box stores like Target and Wal-Mart have already been making “reforms” moving away from “boys” and “girls” sections in the face of agitation from LGBT activists. Although California is the first state to adopt this policy into law.
The law was opposed by some Republicans, who argued the government shouldn’t tell parents or businesses how to handle this. Interestingly, at least one big-box store – Target – already committed to easing gender identifiers attached to its products years ago.
Given the bill’s almost-laughable premise, we wonder: who will be left to “enforce” this new law? Will gender studies majors suddenly have a market demand for their expertise?
