(The Center Square) – Ohioans who feel discriminated against because of their hair could sue under Ohio Civil Rights law if a bill in the General Assembly becomes a statute.
Fourteen bipartisan lawmakers have signed on the proposed legislation that would make it illegal to discriminate against a person because of traits associated with the person’s race, including hair texture and protective hairstyles, such as braids, locks and twists.
The law, associated with a nationwide push called the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, would apply to places of employment, public accommodations, housing and credit practices.
“A 2023 joint Dove and LinkedIn workplace research study analyzing the impacts of race-based hair discrimination found that Black women are disproportionately affected by hair-based discrimination. Black women’s hair is 2.5-times more likely to be perceived as unprofessional and 2-times as likely to be the recipient of macroaggressions,” Rep. Juanita Brent, D-Cleveland, told the House Civil Justice Committee last week during the bill’s first hearing.
Brown and Rep. Jamie Callendar, R-Concord, plan a Wednesday press conference to discuss the legislation introduced in the last General Assembly but failed to make it out.
“Students should be focused on their studies, working professionals should be focused on building their career, not worried about how their hair style impacts their ability to learn or grow in their field,” Callendar testified.
Ohio’s proposed legislation comes after two states took up the same issue in the last eight months.
First, as previously reported by The Center Square, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in October a bill that prohibits Illinois schools from issuing policies on hairstyles associated with race or ethnicity.
That bill responded to a 4-year-old boy in Chicago, Gus “Jett” Hawkins, who was told his braids violated his school’s dress code.
In March, also reported by The Center Square, Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order banning hair discrimination within state agencies.
That order was also part of the Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair, or CROWN, Act, a nationwide campaign. The organization’s goal is to have legislation, not just executive orders, in all 50 states, and it’s been successful in 20, according to its website.
