California Attorney General Rob Bonta Wants to Turn Shoppers Into Spies

California Attorney General Rob Bonta wants to turn shoppers into spies.

In his consumer advisory issued late last month on how to avoid holiday shopping scams Bonta urged consumers to report stores that lack gender neutral toy and child care sections mandated by  AB 1084, which took effect at the start of this year.

The legislation requires large retail stores to have  sections with gender neutral toys.  Stores that do not follow the diktat can be fined $250 for the initial violation and up to $500 after that.

The law played into the leftist fiction that there are no real differences between the sexes and now Bonta wants to turn California shoppers into his enforcers. His job is to protect Golden State consumers but the missive sounded more like an ideological crusade than anything which really impacts Californians.

“Does your department store have a gender-neutral children section?” Bonta asked.“As of January 1, 2024, large retail department stores that sell childcare items or toys must maintain a gender-neutral section for these items. Under AB 1084, retail department stores that have physical locations in California and 500 or more employees across all California locations must maintain a gender-neutral section, where a reasonable selection of the childcare items and toys for children that they sell must be displayed, regardless of whether these products are traditionally marketed for boys or girls. By requiring large retailers to maintain a gender-neutral section, AB 1084 makes it more difficult for these retailers to engage in gender-based pricing discrimination and reduces the imposition of gender stereotypes on children.”

Bonta urged consumers to send in documentation of any transgressions that they find.

 “If you do not see an adequate gender-neutral product section in a large retail department store in California that you believe is covered by this law, you may take pictures, document, and file a complaint with our office at oag.ca.gov/report.”

AB 1084 was authored by Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) in early 2021 and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in October of that year.

Low said in his legislative analysis for the bill that it would make “all kids feel welcome” but is there any evidence that boys and girls were feeling alienated by finding toys in sections for them?

“A generally labeled area allows for a freer shopping experience for both children and the guardians to shop for the items the children would like to purchase without societal pressures,” Low wrote. “This is about kids not feeling bad about what they choose to purchase because of the store section it was purchased from.”

But other legislators and conservative organizations criticized the legislation as improper government overreach that foisted a social agenda on business that should be free to operate as they please.

“I would recommend we let parents be parents,” said Senator Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) in a statement in 2021. “Unlike the author, I actually have children, five of them to be exact, and I can tell you it is very convenient for parents. I don’t think parents need the government to step in and tell them how they should shop for their children.”

The California Family Council, a conservative Christian group, blasted the legislation as the government forcing compelled speech on businesses in violation of the First Amendment.

California Family Council vice-president Greg Burt wrote that, “This is government-compelled speech. This law tells private business owners, who might be Christian, Jewish, or Muslim, that they must communicate a government-sponsored message about gender when they display and market children’s toys. That is illegal.”

Burt told the California Globe that Bonta’s language urging consumers to report stores that do not have “adequate” gender neutral sections is an invitation to radical trans activists to file complaints and advance their agenda of pretending there is no difference between males and females. .

“Notice how vague the language is.  What is an adequate gender neutral section? What is enough gender neutral [products]?” he asked rhetorically. “This is impossible to enforce and this is a ridiculous standard.  You are going to have trans activists going into stores and say these stores are not putting enough gender neutral products on their shelves.”

“This [legislation] is just the beginning,” Burt added. “They want everything mixed together. In their mind they want to destroy the binary nature of what a human being is–that we are a species of male and female. They want to enforce that philosophy on the whole culture and they are willing to use government power to do it. All under the guise of being inclusive. It is very authoritarian.”

In response to an inquiry from the California Globe, Bonta’s press office declined to say if any consumers had filed complaints following his entreaty to snitch,  but said no enforcement actions have been taken so far.

“We are unable to comment on, even to confirm or deny the submission of, complaints received by our office as they are considered confidential investigative records of the Attorney General,” said an unnamed press aide. “We have not taken any action against retailers to date.”