CROWN Act Timeline: 2019 to Present
The CROWN Act movement has produced one of the fastest expansions of civil rights protections in recent American legislative history. From a single state in 2019 to twenty-four states by 2024, the timeline below documents each adoption and illustrates the accelerating momentum of legislative change.
This timeline is a reference resource for researchers, policymakers, and journalists tracking the progression of hair discrimination protections. For analysis of the movement’s strategy and implications for Europe, see Lessons from the CROWN Act for Europe. For the data that drove these legislative wins, see Data Behind the CROWN Act.
2019 — The Beginning
July 3, 2019 — California SB 188, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom. California becomes the first state in the nation to prohibit discrimination based on natural hair texture and protective hairstyles. The bill amends the Fair Employment and Housing Act and the Education Code, covering both workplace and school settings. Senator Holly Mitchell authored the bill, with support from the Dove CROWN Coalition. This moment establishes the legislative viability of hair discrimination protections.
December 2019 — New York S6209A, signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. New York amends its Human Rights Law to include hair texture and protective hairstyles as protected characteristics. As the fourth most populous state and a national centre of commerce and culture, New York’s adoption signals that the CROWN Act is not a regional phenomenon.
December 2019 — New Jersey A5564, signed by Governor Phil Murphy. New Jersey amends its Law Against Discrimination. Three states in six months establishes a pattern.
2020 — Building Momentum
March 2020 — Virginia HB1514, signed by Governor Ralph Northam. Virginia amends its Human Rights Act, becoming the first Southern state to enact CROWN Act protections. The adoption in a politically moderate Southern state expands the geographic reach of the movement.
March 2020 — Colorado HB20-1048, signed by Governor Jared Polis. Colorado’s adoption extends protections to the Mountain West region.
March 2020 — Washington SB5496, signed by Governor Jay Inslee. The Pacific Northwest joins the growing list, demonstrating national geographic distribution.
May 2020 — Maryland SB531, signed by Governor Larry Hogan. Notably, Governor Hogan is a Republican, establishing bipartisan support for hair discrimination protections. Seven states now have CROWN Acts.
2021 — Acceleration
March 2021 — Connecticut SB 86, signed by Governor Ned Lamont. Connecticut’s adoption strengthens the concentration of protections in the Northeast.
March 2021 — New Mexico HB10, signed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. New Mexico extends protections to the Southwest, covering a state with a diverse, multiethnic population.
May 2021 — Nebraska LB451, signed by Governor Pete Ricketts. Another Republican governor signs CROWN Act legislation, reinforcing the bipartisan nature of the issue.
June 2021 — Nevada AB135, signed by Governor Steve Sisolak. Nevada adds protections in a state with a large and growing population of colour.
June 2021 — Oregon HB2935, signed by Governor Kate Brown. Oregon’s adoption completes a Pacific coast corridor of protections from Washington through California.
August 2021 — Illinois SB817, signed by Governor J.B. Pritzker. Illinois is the largest Midwestern state to adopt, and its adoption follows the nationally publicised case of Jett Hawkins, a student disciplined for his hairstyle. Thirteen states now have protections.
2022 — Continued Expansion and Federal Action
March 2022 — Federal CROWN Act Passes US House H.R. 2116 passes the House of Representatives 235-189. The bill does not advance in the Senate during this congressional session, but the House vote represents a significant milestone.
April 2022 — Maine LD2018, signed by Governor Janet Mills. Maine’s adoption extends protections to the northernmost reach of the East Coast.
May 2022 — Tennessee SB2536, signed by Governor Bill Lee. Tennessee becomes the second Southern state with CROWN Act protections, demonstrating growing acceptance across ideological lines.
June 2022 — Louisiana HB632, signed by Governor John Bel Edwards. Louisiana’s adoption is significant given the state’s large African American population and deep cultural traditions around hair.
July 2022 — Alaska HB177, signed by Governor Mike Dunleavy. Alaska becomes the most geographically remote state with CROWN Act protections, and another Republican-governed state to adopt.
August 2022 — Delaware HB126, signed by Governor John Carney. Delaware’s adoption adds to the densely protected mid-Atlantic corridor.
October 2022 — Massachusetts HD.4501, signed by Governor Charlie Baker. Massachusetts, with its concentration of universities and major employers, adds significant economic weight to the protected states. Twenty states now have CROWN Acts.
2023 — Reaching New Frontiers
March 2023 — Minnesota SF37, signed by Governor Tim Walz. Minnesota’s adoption adds another Midwestern state and reflects the state’s active legislative agenda on civil rights.
May 2023 — Montana HB171, signed by Governor Greg Gianforte. Montana’s adoption is notable: a rural, predominantly white, Republican-governed state enacts hair discrimination protections, strongly demonstrating the bipartisan and universal appeal of the issue.
September 2023 — Texas HB567, signed by Governor Greg Abbott. Texas, the second most populous state, is the largest CROWN Act adoption by population. Its enactment under a Republican governor extends protections to nearly 30 million residents.
2024 — Continuing Momentum
March 2024 — Kentucky SB63, signed by Governor Andy Beshear. Kentucky’s adoption adds another Southern state to the list.
August 2024 — Missouri HB427, signed by Governor Mike Parson. Missouri becomes the twenty-fourth state with CROWN Act protections. The geographic and political diversity of adopting states by this point — from California to Texas, Alaska to Louisiana, Massachusetts to Montana — demonstrates the universal nature of the issue.
Patterns in the Timeline
Several patterns emerge from this chronological record:
Accelerating pace. Three states adopted in 2019. Four in 2020. Five in 2021. Six in 2022. Three in 2023. Two in 2024. The peak rate of adoption occurred in 2021-2022, suggesting that momentum builds most rapidly in the middle phases of a legislative movement.
Geographic dispersion. Adoptions moved from coastal states to interior states, from urban-majority states to rural-majority states, and from traditionally progressive states to traditionally conservative states. By 2024, every major geographic region of the United States has at least one CROWN Act state.
Bipartisan signatures. Republican governors signed CROWN Acts in Maryland, Nebraska, Alaska, Massachusetts, Montana, and Texas. The issue consistently crossed partisan lines at the state level, even as the federal bill faced more partisan division.
Catalytic events. Several adoptions followed publicised incidents of hair discrimination, including the Jett Hawkins case in Illinois and school discipline cases in other states. Specific, documented incidents translated general data into immediate legislative urgency.
What Comes Next
As of March 2026, twenty-four states have enacted CROWN Act legislation. Twenty-six states and several territories do not have explicit hair discrimination protections. The federal bill has not passed both chambers. The movement continues.
For Europe, this timeline is instructive. France’s Proposition de loi Serva, if enacted by the Senate, would place France in a position analogous to California in July 2019: the first jurisdiction in its region to establish explicit protections, creating precedent and momentum for others. The question is whether other European nations will follow the pattern of rapid adoption seen in the United States, or whether the different legislative cultures and institutional structures of Europe will produce a different trajectory.
CROWN’s research programme is building the evidence infrastructure that European jurisdictions will need to make informed decisions about legislative action. The CROWN Discrimination Index provides the European equivalent of the quantitative evidence that drove the CROWN Act’s success.
CROWN provides technical analysis and quantitative evidence for legislative deliberation. For questions about our legislative timeline data, contact contact@crown.ngo.