California passes bill making workplace hair discrimination illegal

California is trying to make it illegal to discriminate against a person in the workplace based on their hairstyle.

The state's Senate unanimously passed a bill prohibiting the discrimination, which would ban schools and workplaces from forbidding braids, twists and other natural hair styles, reports CNN.

The bill follows in the footsteps of New York City, which banned hair discrimination in February. Last July, the U.S. Navy also amended its policies to allow wider buns, ponytails and loc hairstyles, per Axios.

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Workplace restrictions on hair have been labeled as discriminatory against African Americans who are wearing their hair's natural texture, Axios reports, and have previously been taken to court.

"A Google image search for 'unprofessional hairstyles' yielded only pictures of black women with their natural hair or wearing natural braids or twists," said Los Angeles Democrat Holly Mitchell, who introduced the bill. The bill will now go to the state Assembly for a vote.