California Mandates Gender-Neutral Shelves in Large Supermarkets

Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, USA
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] In the state of California, USA, from 2024, large supermarkets will be required to set up gender-neutral toy aisles.

According to BBC and others on the 11th (local time), this bill was signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on the 9th (local time) in California and will be enforced starting in 2024.

Accordingly, large supermarkets with more than 500 employees must provide spaces where toys and childcare products are displayed without gender distinctions.

The purpose is to prevent items such as pink-colored childcare products for girls and blue-colored ones for boys from being separately displayed, and to ensure that play corners like beauty play and cooking play are not isolated from robots and cars.

However, the bill does not require the removal of existing gender-specific aisles for girls and boys, but aims to provide options for consumers who want to choose without gender distinctions.

Supermarkets that do not set up gender-neutral aisles will be fined $250, and the fine will increase to $500 upon repeated violations.

With the growing voice of sexual minorities in California, this bill was passed by the state legislature last month. California became the first state in the US to mandate gender-neutral aisles.

Gender-neutral aisles do not apply to clothing but apply to items related to play, sleep, baby food, and dental hygiene.

One of the legislators who proposed the bill, Assemblyman Evan Low (Democrat), expressed gratitude for finally receiving Governor Newsom’s signature after the third proposal.

Assemblyman Low explained the purpose of the bill by sharing an anecdote about a colleague’s 8-year-old daughter who asked why she had to go to the boys’ aisle to buy a certain toy when she went to the supermarket with her mother.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.