The former California lawmaker, Melissa Melendez, criticized a Democrat-backed policy mandating gender-neutral toy sections in stores, arguing that it oversteps by controlling how parents shop for their children.
The policy, authored by California Democrat lawmaker Evan Low, requires stores with over 500 employees to offer gender-neutral sections for kids aged 12 and under, alongside gendered ones.
Non-compliance after Jan. 1, 2024 could result in fines. (Trending: Democrat Targets U.S. Troops With New Gun Control Law)
Melissa Melendez said, “I was really stunned, number one, because the author of the bill doesn’t have any children, so he has no idea what it’s like to go to stores scrambling to try to find that toy for your child’s birthday or Christmas, rush home to make dinner or take care of the family.”
“He has no idea, so I was stunned that someone without children was so focused on controlling how I shop for my children,” she continued.
“We need to stop stigmatizing what’s acceptable for certain genders,” added the former lawmaker.
“There are some retailers who have already decided to start doing this, and that’s probably how it should be, rather than the government trying to step in and co-parent with parents in California,” explained Melendez.
“Let retailers decide what’s best for their customers and what their clientele want, but the last thing we need is for the state legislature in California to decide, ‘Parents, this is how you need to shop for your children’… It’s policies like these that are terrible for people living in California and in any other states are choosing to do this,” said Melendez.
“We don’t need the government trying to co-parent with us,” she added.
Critics like Greg Burt and Melendez believe the policy violates free speech and prioritizes special interest groups, with Melendez highlighting California’s budget deficit as an area of greater concern.
Greg Burt, vice president of California Family Research Council, said, “This is government-compelled speech.”
“The government is deciding to tell a religious person, could be a Muslim-owned business, that they have to use certain words to advertise toys, and those words might violate the belief systems of that particular Muslim-owned business,” continued the researcher.
“You got the government now dictating the signage in stores, about what words can be used to advertise products. This is opening a Pandora’s Box,” warned Burt.
“We’re going to give them the voice and the power to control everyone’s choices in how they shop. And, for goodness sake, we have a $68 billion budget deficit in California. I’m pretty sure we could probably be focusing on some things other than the toy section at our local Target,” said Melendez.
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