© 2026 ABC News

Louisiana Rep. Cedric Richmond and the Congressional Black Caucus have been leading the charge for the bill's approval.

\"I'm proud to have introduced this legislation and thank my colleagues @RepBarbaraLee @RepMarciaFudge @RepPressley for their contributions to this bill and for wearing their own crowns with pride and dignity,\" Richmond said in a statement.

California Rep. Barbara Lee also chimed in after the bill passed. Along with a moving video featuring several images of herself wearing natural hairstyles, she said, \"No one should feel forced to change their natural hair. I've been rocking my crown for decades and everybody should feel empowered to rock theirs too.\"

Today the House passed @RepRichmond @RepMarciaFudge, @RepPressley & my bill to prohibit natural hair discrimination. No one should feel forced to change their natural hair. I've been rocking my crown for decades & everybody should feel empowered to rock theirs too. #CROWNAct pic.twitter.com/8axju7iBVY

— Rep. Barbara Lee (@RepBarbaraLee) September 22, 2020

California state senator Holly J. Mitchell was instrumental in getting the bill passed in California in 2019. Following her efforts, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Colorado, Washington and Maryland -- in addition to municipalities in Cincinnati as well as Montgomery County, Maryland -- have also passed laws banning natural hair discrimination.

\"Until Congress is able to recognize that the quality of my work as an employee or student is based on what's inside my head and not how I choose to wear my hair, we will continue the state-by-state strategy to pass the CROWN Act in every state in our nation,\" Mitchell previously told \"GMA.\"

For far too long, Black women have been penalized for simply existing as themselves—that ends today.

The House just passed the CROWN Act to end hair discrimination.

This passage is long overdue, but an important step forward to combat racial discrimination. https://t.co/v4D76QZT6H

— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) September 21, 2020

Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar also shared the news on Twitter. \"For far too long, Black women have been penalized for simply existing as themselves — that ends today,\" she said, adding, \"This passage is long overdue, but an important step forward to combat racial discrimination.\"

July 3 has also been declared \"National Crown Day.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Style/house-passes-bill-make-natural-hair-discrimination-illegal/story?id=73164592","legacySlug":"/style/story/house-passes-bill-make-natural-hair-discrimination-illegal-73164592","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"16:51","publishDate":"09-22-2020","updatedTime":"11:52","updatedDate":"09-23-2020","socialImage":{"alt":" ","credit":"STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/natural-hair-stock-gty-jef-200702_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/22/2020 16:51:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":73164592,"headline":"Bill makes natural hair discrimination illegal","mediaAssetTitle":"HOUSE PASSES CROWN ACT","description":"The CROWN Act (H.R. 5309) will now advance to the U.S. Senate. ","duration":"4:47","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/09/200916_gma_normanhair_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["72211612","64015235","71574191"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"August 6, 2020","headline":"Reporter shares powerful post on wearing braids on-air for 1st time","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/reporter-shares-powerful-post-wearing-braids-air-1st-72211612","id":72211612,"image":{"alt":"Reporter shares powerful post on wearing braids on-air for 1st time","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/roberts-02-as-ht-200806_1596730425854_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Eugene Daniel III","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 4, 2019","headline":"California becomes the 1st state to ban natural hair discrimination ","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/california-set-state-ban-natural-hair-discrimination-64015235","id":64015235,"image":{"alt":"California becomes the 1st state to ban natural hair discrimination ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/natural-hair-rf-gty-ml-190628_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 2, 2021","headline":"National Crown Day: 13 states have passed laws to ban natural hair discrimination ","section":"style","slug":"/style/story/national-crown-day-states-passed-laws-ban-natural-71574191","id":71574191,"image":{"alt":"National Crown Day: 13 states have passed laws to ban natural hair discrimination ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/phenomenal_1625243101518_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"courtesy of Phenomenal, photographed by Ismail “Calligrafist” Sayeed","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Bill makes natural hair discrimination illegal","description":"The CROWN Act (H.R. 5309) will now advance to the U.S. Senate. ","duration":"4:47","uploadDate":"09-22-2020","publication":"09-22-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/09/200916_gma_normanhair_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/09/200916_gma_normanhair_central_0821_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/style/story/house-passes-bill-make-natural-hair-discrimination-illegal-73164592"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133929295","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133958398","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133882828","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810954","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133779647","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133810835","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133749799","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133777519","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133748258","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:style:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"style","title":"Bill makes natural hair discrimination illegal","pubTime":"12:51","pubDate":"09-22-2020","modTime":"07:52","modDate":"09-23-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":73164592,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Bill makes natural hair discrimination illegal","mediaAssetTitle":"HOUSE PASSES CROWN ACT","videoId":73164592,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/style/story/house-passes-bill-make-natural-hair-discrimination-illegal-73164592"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/73164592","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/73164592","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};