EATONVILLE, Fla. — Florida lawmakers, local leaders, and members of the community met yesterday at the Eatonville Branch Library for a conversation on hair discrimination and the CROWN Act.
▶ LISTEN TO ORLANDO’S MORNING NEWS EXPRESS PODCAST ON WDBO
The CROWN Act (HB 235/SB 476), which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” seeks to “[prohibit] discrimination based on protected hairstyles in the K-20 public education system.”
The conversation was organized by local nonprofit Black Girls Govern, a group “dedicated to cultivating the civic leadership, confidence, and voices of Black girls.”
According to the Dove CROWN Study for Girls, “66% of Black girls in majority-white schools report experiencing hair discrimination.”
At the meeting, attendees could hear from those “personally affected” by hair discrimination, as well as from state and federal lawmakers pushing to make the bill a reality.
Those lawmakers included Congressman Maxwell Frost, Senator LaVon Bracy Davis, and Rep. Dr. Anna Eskamani, all of whom acknowledged the importance of the bill.
“The biggest misconception [about hair discrimination] is that it doesn’t exist,” said Sen. Bracy Davis, “that there is no judgment on how people wear their hair.”
25 states have passed the CROWN Act, with the most recent being Vermont in April 2024. In Florida, SB 686 was introduced to the Senate in December 2023 but died in Judiciary by March 2024.
At the meeting, speakers expressed their hope that 2026 could be the year the CROWN Act passes in Florida.
“There’s work for us to do,” said Sen. Bracy Davis. “We need bipartisan support. We also need to show up for our authentic self.”
Click here to download our free news, weather and traffic app. And click here to subscribe to our daily 3 Big Things newsletter.
©2026 Cox Media Group
