On the House floor Monday, Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert characterized a prospective law designed to prohibit discrimination based on a person’s hair texture or style linked to their race or culture as “the bad hair bill.” Casting a proxy vote on behalf of her colleague, Boebert said, “Madame Speaker, as the member designated by Mr. Louie Gohmert, I inform the House that Mr. Gohmert will vote ‘NAY’ on HR 211-16, the bad hair bill.” The CROWN Act, for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act,” is in actuality HR 21-16, though Boebert added an extra “1” for unclear reasons. The bill, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass the House, was defeated later on Monday 235-188. Hours earlier, it had passed in Minnesota’s House 104-25. “Hair should never be a reason to be discriminated against,” Lisa Demuth, a Minnesota state representative, said. “It should never be a reason to either have an opportunity or not have an opportunity.”
The House is voting now on the CROWN Act, which would ban discrimination against Black people based on how they choose to wear their hair. In announcing her colleague's "no" vote via proxy just now, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) called it "the bad hair bill."
