[ST. PAUL, MN] – Governor Tim Walz has signed the CROWN Act into law, explicitly prohibiting racial discrimination based on natural hair texture and hair styles such as braids, locs, and twists. A ceremonial bill signing will take place later this week.

“Discrimination has no place in Minnesota,” said Governor Walz. “By signing the CROWN Act, we are sending a message that Black Minnesotans deserve to live and work free from discrimination. Today we are taking an important step in creating a more equitable Minnesota.”

“The CROWN Act will ensure today’s generation and future generations of Black Minnesotans don’t experience the discrimination that has existed for far too long in our state,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “Black people in Minnesota, and across the country, deserve to show up as their full, beautiful selves, without the fear of hair discrimination.”

The CROWN Act, HF 37 Ch. 3, adds clear language to the definition of race in the Minnesota Human Rights Act that includes natural hair textures and hair styles preventing discrimination on the basis of hair.