DENVER — Colorado's CROWN Act, which stands for “Create a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” received its final signature from Governor Jared Polis Friday.
House Bill 1048 bans discrimination based on a person's traits that are historically associated with race, specifically, hairstyles in education, employment, housing and public accommodations.
“When we look at how we can end societal, legal discrimination against marginalized communities, especially communities of color, it’s important to know that discriminating against people’s hair has often been a stand-in for discriminating against their race," said Polis. "We’re proud to say that today that will no longer occur in the State of Colorado."
Sponsored by Representative Leslie Herod, Representative Janet Buckner (D-Aurora) and Senator Rhonda Fields (D-Aurora), the signing of House Bill 20-1048 comes on the heels of nationally publicized incidents of hair discrimination including New Jersey student-wrestler Andrew Johnson, who was forced to cut off his dreadlocks to compete.
The CROWN Coalition, co-founded by Dove in partnership with the National Urban League, Color Of Change and the Western Center on Law, took a leading role in organizing support for the bill around the country.
“The CROWN Act will right a decades-long wrong: forcing people across the ethnic spectrum to make their hair look and feel a certain way to succeed,” said Representative Leslie Herod (D) Denver. “This bill is for every person who has damaged their hair with a relaxer or burnt their scalp with a hot comb, for those who have spent countless hours and dollars to conform to eurocentric beauty standards. Everyone should be their true beautiful selves, feel proud of their culture and heritage, and be celebrated for their self-expression.”
Colorado is the fourth state, behind California, New York, New Jersey and Virginia in passing the CROWN Act.
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