Louisiana becomes first Deep South state to pass CROWN Act

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards recently signed Louisiana’s version of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act into law. It was approved by the Louisiana Legislature in its recently concluded session. In doing so, Louisiana joins 16 other states and becomes the first in the Deep South to enact the CROWN Act or legislation inspired by the CROWN Act.

What is the CROWN Act?

The CROWN movement began in 2019 as an effort to combat discrimination (primarily against black women and girls) in employment, education, public accommodations, and housing based on hair texture and hairstyles.

The CROWN Act has been gaining steam since then and (as mentioned above) already was the law in 16 other states prior to Louisiana. Thirty cities across the nation, including New Orleans, also have passed a version of the CROWN Act, and a bill to make the CROWN Act federal law passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this year. It’s currently awaiting action by the Senate.

A bill to enact the CROWN Act in Louisiana was first introduced in the 2020 legislative session but failed to gain passage. This year, a bill sponsored by State Representative Candace Newell of New Orleans passed and completed the two-year effort to make the CROWN Act Louisiana law. In signing the bill, Governor Edwards commented that the “CROWN Act will protect Louisianans from discrimination based on a person’s natural, protective, or cultural hairstyle.”

What does the CROWN Act do?