Former Sen Melissa Melendez slams California law on gender-neutral sections in toy stores on 'Fox & Friends'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Melissa Melendez, former Republican senator from California, appeared on the December 28 episode of 'Fox & Friends' to talk about a state policy for toy stores.

The Democrat-backed law in question makes it compulsory for toy stores across the state to have gender-neutral toy sections, a move that Melendez calls "beyond absurd."

Who wrote the Californian toy store bill?

California Democrat lawmaker Evan Low wrote the bill, which was passed back in 2021, according to Fox News.

At the time, Low had reportedly told CBS News, "We need to stop stigmatizing what's acceptable for certain genders and just let kids be kids." He held hopes that the passage of the bill would help stop the reinforcement of "outdated stereotypes."

The controversial policy does not outlaw gendered toy sections, reported Fox News. However, it mandates stores with more than 500 employees to also compulsorily provide gender-neutral sections for children aged 12 and under.

The stores have a deadline of January 1, 2024, to comply, after which they may be fined from $250 to $500, depending on the number of violations.

Melissa Melendez's criticism of gender-neutral toy section policy

Speaking with co-host Carley Shimkus, Melendez, who voted against the bill, stated, "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."

She continued, "He has no idea, so I was stunned that someone without children was so focused on controlling how I shop for my children."

Making her stand against government interference, Melendez shared, "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."

"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,'" she continued.

She further criticized the law as she said, "It's policies like these that are terrible for people living in California and in any other states are choosing to do this. We don't need the government trying to co-parent with us."

Mentioning the state of the economy, the former lawmaker later added, "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."