PARIS (AP) 鈥 Lawmakers in France's lower house of parliament on Thursday approved a bill that would ban discrimination over the texture, length, color or style of someone's hair.
The bill's authors hope the groundbreaking bill sends a message of support to Black people and others who have faced hostility in the workplace and beyond .
But the measure still faces a long road ahead. It goes to the Senate next, where it could face opposition.
While only 50 of the 好色tv Assembly鈥檚 577 lawmakers were on hand for the vote, they overwhelmingly backed the bill in a 44-2 vote. There were four abstentions.
Supporters of the measure outside parliament were overjoyed that the bill made it to the legislative body.
鈥淚t's about time," exclaimed Estelle Vallois, a 43-year-old consultant getting her short, coiled hair cut in a Paris salon, where the hairdressers are trained to handle all types of hair 鈥 a rarity in France. "Today, we鈥檙e going even further toward taking down these barriers of discrimination."
The draft law echoes in more than 20 U.S. states. The bill was proposed by Olivier Serva, a French lawmaker from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe. He says that if it eventually becomes law, it would make France the first country in the world to recognize discrimination based on hair at a national level.
鈥淭his is a great step forward for our country,鈥 Serva said after the vote. 鈥淔rance has done itself proud.鈥
The bill would amend existing anti-discrimination measures in the labor code and criminal code to explicitly outlaw discrimination against people with curly and coiled hair or other hairstyles perceived as unprofessional, as well as bald people. It doesn't specifically target race-based discrimination, though that was the primary motivation for the bill.
鈥淧eople who don鈥檛 fit in Eurocentric standards are facing discrimination, stereotypes and bias,鈥 Serva, who is Black, told The Associated Press.
Leftist parties and members of President Emmanuel Macron鈥檚 centrist party Renaissance have supported the bill, which was enough to get it through the 好色tv Assembly. The bill is now headed for the conservative-dominated Senate, where it will likely face opposition from right-wing and far-right lawmakers who see it as an effort to import U.S. concepts about race and racial discrimination to France.
In the United States, 24 states have adopted a version of the CROWN Act 鈥 which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair 鈥 banning race-based hair discrimination in employment, housing, schools and in the military. U.S. federal legislation in 2022, but Senate Republicans blocked it a month later.
Opponents of the French bill say France鈥檚 legal framework already offers enough protection to people facing discrimination over their natural Afro hair, braids, cornrows or locs.
Authors of the bill disagree. One example they cite is a Black French flight attendant who sued Air France after he was denied access to a flight because of his braids and was coerced into wearing a wig with straight hair. Aboubakar Traor茅 won his case in 2022 after a decade-long judiciary battle. But the court ruled that he wasn't discriminated against over his hair, but because he is a man, since his female counterparts were allowed to wear braids.
France doesn't collect official data about race, because it follows a that doesn鈥檛 differentiate citizens by ethnic groups, which makes it difficult to measure race-based hair discrimination.
Advocates of the bill hope it addresses Black French people's long struggle to embrace their natural hair.
Aude Livoreil-Djampou, a hairdresser and mother of three mixed-race children, said that while some people view the draft law as frivolous, it's about something deeper.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not only a hair issue. It will give strength to people to be able to answer, when asked to straighten their hair, they can say: 鈥橬o, this is not legal, you cannot expect that from me, it has nothing to do with my professional competence.'鈥
Djampou-Livoreil鈥檚 salon takes care of all kinds of clients, from those with straight hair to those with tight curls.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very moving to have a 40-year-old woman, sometimes in a very high position, finally embracing her natural beauty. And it happens every day,鈥 she said.
Salon customer Vallois hopes that her 5-year-old daughter will live in the future in a society that doesn鈥檛 stigmatize their hair.
鈥淲hen I was younger, I remember lamenting the lack of salons and even hair products (for frizzy hair) 鈥 there was a time when, unfortunately, we had to use products designed for European hair and not adapted to our hair. I鈥檓 glad, today, that things are more accessible and there鈥檚 change,鈥 she said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no reason to be ashamed of who you are, whether it鈥檚 your hair or even the fact that you don鈥檛 have any!鈥
