The Texas House of Representatives has passed HB 567, also known as the Crown Act. This bill would prohibit discrimination against natural hairstyles and hair texture that is commonly or historically associated with race and ethnicity. 

According to the bill, any dress or grooming policy in school districts, public universities, workplaces, and housing, “may not discriminate against a hair texture or protective hairstyle commonly or historically associated with race.”

The House State Affairs Committee passed the bill unanimously and it was approved by the House of Representatives. Now it will be passed on to the Senate. The bill was filed by Texas House Representative Rhetta Bowers (D-Garland). “It is for the classroom, the workplace, as well as in housing. Students have been held from graduation, they have been kept from the prom, they have been pulled off of basketball courts,” said Bowers in an article by NBCDFW. 

The bill prohibits discrimination against braids, locks, and twists. The CROWN Initiative is something that is passing through the United States and is already legal in the city of Austin and Harris County. It has also become law throughout 20 states either fully or in certain cities. The CROWN Initiative is a campaign by Dove and LinkedIn to push legislation around the nation to prevent race-based hair discrimination in the workplace and schools.