A new bill in California would make it illegal for stores such as Walmart and Target to advertise merchandise including toys and clothes as intended for boys or girls.
Assembly Bill 1084 — introduced last month by Democratic Assembly members Evan Low and Cristina Garcia — requires stores more than 500 employees to maintain “undivided areas of its sales floor” for childcare items, kids clothes and toys, “regardless of whether an item has traditionally been marketed for either girls or for boys.”
The proposed legislation would also require California-based online retailers to maintain “unisex” or “gender neutral” sections of their websites.
Failure to comply would result in a $1000 fine.
Low, chairperson of the California Legislative LGBT Caucus, told The Sacramento Bee that he was inspired by Target Corporation’s voluntary move to eliminate gendered signage in 2015.
“As much as I’d like to think of this as watershed legislation, this is something the industry is already doing. We’re just trying to play catch up,” he said.
