‘Full Stasi’: Consumers told to snitch on stores that don’t have enough ‘gender-neutral’ toys

Not just in America, but in many nations around the world, business operators can choose the products they wish to offer consumers. If they assess the market correctly, they’ll succeed. If not, they close down.

But California.

As in that’s not what is happening in California, where authorities now are demanding consumers file reports on retailers if they don’t have an adequate “gender-neutral” selection of children’s toys.

A report in PJMedia accused the state of going “full Stasi,” a reference to the East German ministry for state security during the decades after World War II.

The report explains, in a section dripping with sarcasm, “There’s a great feeling you get when reporting on your fellow citizens to the state. It’s a warm, fuzzy feeling knowing you’ve done the state a valuable service. There’s a rush of pride when you realize that it was your action that resulted in a citizen or business being punished for a transgression.”

The report explains, “Why does California Attorney General Rob Bonta want citizens to report on retail stores that aren’t carrying ‘enough’ toys and clothes that are ‘gender neutral’? A law passed in California in 2022 requires stores to carry a ‘reasonable’ number of gender-neutral toys and children’s products in their aisles. The editorial board of the Los Angeles Times said the legislation ‘represents nannyish overreach’ at the time. Bonta disagrees.”

Bonta’s officer recently explained, “Does your department store have a gender-neutral children section? As of January 1, 2024, large retail department stores that sell childcare items or toys must maintain a gender-neutral section for these items.”

The law actually states, “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.”

Then Bonta provides “painfully explicit instructions” to snitchers.

“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.”

A link is provided to report offenders.

The fine for a first-time violation is $250, which goes to $500 for a second offense.