This bill passed by California Governer Gavin Newsom is in direct violation of freedom of expression, which is explicitly protected under the First Amendment. Neither any local, state, nor the federal government have any right or business in dictating what anyone, let alone private companies and entrepenures, can do with their freedom of expression, legislation-wise.
I’ve always known that California has recently always gone over the line in terms of what is necessary and unnecessary, regarding its regulatory stance on a number of things, but now, there is absolutely no way in hell that anyone can deny it has violated the constitution in doing so in this case, and you don’t have to be a Republican or conservative to recognize that this is an indisputable breach of one of the amendments by a state government.
Private corporations, institutions and organizations are not required by law to receive orders by the federal government or any state or local government regarding their rights to freedom of expression, and this act by Governor Newsom needs to be reviewed and struck down by the Supreme Court, immediately.
If a company wants to create an entirely gender neutral section within their own places of business, then that is entirely within the right to do so, however unnecessary it may be. It absolutely becomes a problem, however, when the government forces them to do it.
And if anyone is unable to see the problem with this, it’s the fact that the ACTUAL STATE GOVERNMENT OF CALIFORNIA, A STATE OF AN ACTUAL COUNTRY, THE UNITED STATES, WHERE IT IS A BREACH OF LAW FOR ANY OF ITS GOVERNMENTS TO ENACT ANY LEGISLATION THAT VIOLATES THE CONSTITUTION, is forcing a private entity to sell a non-essential item based solely on what really is a form of (technically) artistic expression within its own state, which is something that the government, by law, does not and should not have any control over.
It’s like a state or local government dictating that a private company or individual entrepreneur are required to sell items that contain x imagery or x human characteristics are allowed to sell items that contain expressions of immutable human characteristics, like gender.
Only the company or the entrepreneur should have the final say in decision on what they can, will, and should sell to the public—either of their own desire, or via non-governmental public pressure.
California has a myriad of actual problems all on its own that it needs to deal with as soon as possible, and shit like this is the very last thing that the government of that state or Mr. Newsom should ever be fretting over that needs to be addressed, legistlation-wise.