California Assembly Bill 1084 was a

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in the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...

that proposed requiring

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in California to maintain a

gender neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) should avoid distinguish ...

children's section. It was signed into law by California Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

in October 2021, and enforcement is scheduled to begin in 2024.

Purpose

California Assembly Bill 1084 was intended to assist consumers with

comparison shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...

by encouraging stores to group similar items together. It was additionally meant to limit the reinforcement of

gender roles A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Gender roles are usually cent ...

, which is one effect of traditional gender divisions in children's sections. The law states that separating items marketed toward girls from those marketed toward boys "makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the products and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate".

Requirements

Assembly Bill 1084 proposed that

in California, specifically those which employed 500 or more employees in the state and sold products intended for children, be required to maintain a

section displaying a "reasonable selection" of toys and other children's items without regard for "whether they have been traditionally marketed for either girls or boys." The bill does not apply to children's clothing, and does not restrict the display of gendered shopping areas in addition to the gender neutral section. It additionally proposed requiring that California department stores with

online stores Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce which allows consumers to directly buy goods or services from a seller over the Internet using a web browser or a mobile app. Consumers find a product of interest by visiting the website of the r ...

must create a similar gender neutral section within their online store. Upon its passage, these proposals became law. Upon passing, the bill modified Division 1 of the

California Civil Code The Civil Code of California is a collection of statutes for the State of California. The code is made up of statutes which govern the general obligations and rights of persons within the jurisdiction of California. It was based on a civil code or ...

, adding Part 2.57 "Gender Neutral Retail Departments", including Sections 55.7 and 55.8.

Penalties

Enforcement for the bill is set to begin on January 1, 2024, after which noncompliant businesses will be fined up to $250. Repeated violations of the bill will each result in an additional penalty of up to $500. Stores which are fined may also be liable for attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the state government or any city or district governments in relation to the fine.

Passage

Bill 1084 was introduced to the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

by Evan Low and Cristina Garcia on February 18, 2021. Similar bills had been unsuccessfully introduced in 2019 and 2020. The bill was signed into law by California Governor

on October 9, 2021. At the time of its signing into law, Assembly Bill 1084 was unique to California; similar legislation had not been proposed in any other state.

Reception

As proposed legislation

Bill 1084 was supported by the

Consumer Federation of California The Consumer Federation of California (CFC) was founded in 1960 as a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization. CFC campaigns for state and federal laws and appears at the California state legislature in support of consumer-focused regulations.http ...

on the grounds that it would benefit consumers by facilitating easier comparison of similar products. It was opposed by various business groups which expressed opposition to additional government regulation, as well as various

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

groups; the Capitol Resource Institute characterized the proposed legislation as " versteppingthe natural process of the free market", while the president of the conservative California Family Council said that it would "force retailers to espouse government-approved messages about gender" and was therefore "a violation of free speech". The

Pacific Justice Institute The Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) is a conservative legal defense organization based in California.Ann Southworth, 'Lawyers of the right: professionalizing the conservative coalition', Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2008, p. 3/ref> The gr ...

stated that it would "impose a de-gendered ideology and viewpoint on retailers". The

editorial board The editorial board is a group of experts, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take. Mass media At a newspaper, the editorial board usually consists of the editorial page editor, a ...

of the ''

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'' published an article arguing that the state legislature should not be focusing on "rearranging the toy shelves in major retail chains". The article stated that other tasks such as adapting to

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, preventing

wildfires in California A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identif ...

, and resolving issues with

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during the

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should instead be the priorities of the legislature. While noting that "it’s a great idea for stores to create toy sections where boys don’t feel odd for choosing a baby doll and girls feel welcome to take home a toy truck", the editorial board described the bill as "nannyish overreach" that represented "another inch in the Legislature’s

mission creep Mission creep is the gradual or incremental expansion of an intervention, project or mission, beyond its original scope, focus or goals, a ratchet effect spawned by initial success. Mission creep is usually considered undesirable due to how each su ...

from public policymaker to private overseer".

As law

The bill's passage into law drew criticism from conservatives.

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 50th Tex ...

, governor of Texas, was critical of the new law on

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; a post on

Sean Hannity Sean Patrick Hannity (born December 30, 1961) is an American talk show host, conservative political commentator, and author. He is the host of ''The Sean Hannity Show'', a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and has also hosted a commentar ...

's blog described it as "'woke' culture encroaching on private business".

Larry Elder Laurence Allen Elder (born April 27, 1952) is an American right-wing political commentator and conservative talk radio host. Elder hosts ''The Larry Elder Show'', based in California. The show began as a local program on Los Angeles radio stat ...

, who unsuccessfully campaigned against Gavin Newsom to be governor of California, released a video promoted by the far-right ''

Epoch Times ''The Epoch Times'' is a far-right international multi-language newspaper and media company affiliated with the Falun Gong new religious movement. The newspaper, based in New York City, is part of the Epoch Media Group, which also operates Ne ...

'' that described the law as "freedom-compromising" and "job-killing". The California Retailers Association declined to comment on the bill after its passage into law, while conservative groups continued to oppose it.

References

{{Reflist 2021 in California Gender roles Retailing in the United States 2021 controversies in the United States Childhood in the United States Gavin Newsom Freedom of speech in the United States