girls clothes

Dem bill to ban boys’ and girls’ toy, clothing aisles introduced in California - Lifesite

Posted: 06 Mar 2020 02:49 PM PST

SACRAMENTO, March 6, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – In what may be an unprecedented next step in the drive to erase distinctions between the sexes, legislation is currently pending in California that would forbid retailers from placing children's merchandise in separate aisles for boys and girls.

Introduced by Democrat Assemblyman Evan Low, Assembly Bill 2826 would force stores to stock children's toys, clothes, and childcare items in "gender-neutral" aisles, under the theory that "keeping similar items that are traditionally marketed either for girls or for boys separated makes it more difficult for the consumer to compare the products and incorrectly implies that their use by one gender is inappropriate."

It's unclear whether such difficulties have ever actually occurred to parent shoppers in the Golden State. Nevertheless, retailers who fail to make the change within 30 days of being told could be fined $1,000 under the bill.

"I was inspired to introduce this bill after 8-year-old Britten asked, 'Why should a store tell me what a girl's shirt or toy is?'" Low declared in a press release. "Her bill will help children express themselves freely and without bias. We need to let kids be kids."

The proposal is not going over well with consumer groups, the California Globe reports.

"Toy aisles are fine since most stores already do that and most are for anyone anyway," said consumer advocate Grace Wayne. "But many people are upset about clothing aisles.

"Children's underwear is different for a certain reason, like adult underwear, and there are significant differences in clothing even at a younger age," consumer advocate Grace Wayne explained. "It has nothing to do with clothes color or designs but more about shape and structure of it [...] children that young may not be prepared to learn about certain parts of gender differences and other similar problems."

"We wanna raise our daughter to know she's a girl, that's how she was born, that's how she will live and our sons that they were born boys. I want my daughter to dress like a girl and I want my boys to dress like boys and I want those sections to be separated," parent Candice Miller told NBC affiliate KSBY.

"California is killing freedom, innovation, and common sense with its endless bans, fines, and mandates," declared Pacific Justice Institute-Center for Public Policy president Brad Dacus.

"Compassion for our LGBTQ+ friends and neighbors does not require us to embrace absurdities on gender. No child should be bullied or stigmatized, and neither should the State bully retailers into making it harder for moms and dads to find boys' and girls' clothing and toys. It's time for voters to demand more accountability of their elected officials," he said.

Assemblyman Low was also the subject of national attention in 2018 when he spearheaded an unsuccessful attempt to pass a ban on minors and adults alike obtaining "sexual orientation change efforts," regardless of their wishes, which critics argued was so broadly written that it could have banned the sale of books endorsing the practice, as well as other forms of constitutionally-protected speech.

Girls basketball mom geared up for tournaments - Grand Forks Herald

Posted: 06 Mar 2020 12:00 PM PST

One is the pile of black and Cardinal red clothes the Edmore, N.D., mom wears to her daughter Morgan's Langdon-Edmore-Munich games. The other is a stack of blue and gold clothes she puts on when she watches daughter Fallyn play in Montana State University games.

On Friday, March 6, and Saturday, March 7, Freije will be wearing the black and red while she watches Morgan, a sophomore, and her teammates play in the class B girls high school basketball tournament at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.

Late Saturday night, she'll return to Edmore and fly out the next day to Boise, Idaho. On Tuesday, March 10, Freije will be cheering Fallyn and the rest of the MSU Bobcats in the second round -- the 18-1 conference champions got a bye for the first round -- of the Big Sky tournament in Boise.

Basketball has long been part of life for Freije, first as a player on the Fordville High School basketball team, then later on the Jamestown College women's basketball team where she played from 1984-1988, and, finally, as a fan of her daughters' teams.

After 15 years of watching Morgan, Fallyn and their older sister Ashtin play basketball, Freije is used to not only wardrobe changes, but also juggling schedules and long days traveling by car or airplanes to games.

When the girls were in elementary school, she put miles on her vehicle taking them to basketball games in towns across northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota.

"When they were little, I coached all of their traveling teams," said Freije, noting that the hours in the car to middle school tournaments grew from an hour or two to six because the games were in the Minneapolis area.

During the practices and car rides, Freije worked to instill in her daughters not only basketball skills, but life lessons, emphasizing to them that the sport shouldn't define them as individuals.

"It's something we do, not who we are," she told them. Meanwhile, Freije encouraged the girls to be both competitive and kind.

"If you plow someone over, be the first to pick them up," Freije often advised them.

Another oft-repeated mantra encouraged the girls to be mindful of the big picture: "Have a God day. Be the light."

Because Freije had the chance to coach her girls in basketball and on life, and because of the friendships she had with the other parents, she didn't mind the long days of travel during the girls' elementary and middle school years.

"When you're with a group of other families and enjoy each other and travel, it's kind of a community, Freije said.

She feels that same sense of community that's evident in Langdon E-M teams and the players' parents and that is prevalent in Class B basketball, in general.

"It's the excitement of representing your town," Freije said.

Freije has been busy the past few months going to both girls Region 4 basketball games and Montana State University Big Sky games. She attended nearly every one of Fallyn's home games, something she had vowed to do her daughter's senior year at the university.

When she wasn't able to be at Fallyn's games, thanks to technology, Freije didn't have to miss them, but a few times she did have to correct fans who thought that she was being distracted by her phone during Morgan's games..

"If you see me on my phone, I'm watching Fallyn's games, while I'm watching Morgan," Freije told them.

She's grateful for the opportunities she's had to watch her daughters over the years and now, to see two of them play in postseason tournaments held within days of one another, but 1,200 miles apart in distance.

"It's exciting. How fortunate, how blessed can I be? It's amazing. I think 'Can this be real?'" Freije said.