California gender-neutral toy law to fine noncompliant retailers

In early December, several social media posts claimed large retail stores in California that sell toys will be fined if they refuse to offer gender-neutral toys in a dedicated section in 2024.

Online search trends show many people are wondering whether this is true.

Will large California retail stores that sell toys be fined for refusing to offer gender-neutral toy sections?

Yes, large California retail stores that sell toys will be fined for refusing to offer gender-neutral toy sections.

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Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, California retailers with 500 or more California-based employees that sell kids toys or items will be fined up to $500 if they refuse to offer a gender-neutral toy section in their stores under a new law.

California Assembly Bill 1084, which was signed into law by California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 9, 2021, requires these large retail department stores to provide a gender-neutral section for toys and other childcare items. The law does not outlaw traditional boys and girls sections at department stores. Instead, it says large stores must also have a gender-neutral section.

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.

Retail department stores that refuse to comply with the law will face a fine of $250 for the first violation and $500 for subsequent violations, according to the law’s text. The total fine against retailers that are not in compliance will be determined in civil court by the California attorney general, a local district attorney or a city attorney.

Similar versions of the bill had failed in previous legislative sessions, and the current law was amended in 2021 to remove language that included gender-neutral clothing and larger fines.

California Assemblyman Evan Low, the bill’s author, said 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.

“We need to stop stigmatizing what’s acceptable for certain genders and just let kids be kids,” Low told the Associated Press in 2021 after the bill passed. “My hope is this bill encourages more businesses across California and the U.S. to avoid reinforcing harmful and outdated stereotypes.”

Although California is the first state to pass a law of this kind, VERIFY found that some major retail chains, including Target and Walmart, started to remove gender-based labels from their toy sections nearly a decade ago. Walmart, for example, categorizes toys by product type rather than specifying a particular gender.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.