---
title: HB 135. Housing; discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race, color, or national origin; prohibit
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb135
cite_as: HB 135, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb135
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb135.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb135/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69534
date: 2025-01-29
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md
previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb134.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb136.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb135.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 135
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-01-27
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
  - Kim Schofield
  - Carolyn Hugley
  - Rhonda Burnough
  - Viola Davis
  - Eric Bell
  - Jasmine Clark
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB135/2025
upstream_id: 1943326
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - hair discrimination
  - fair housing
  - employment discrimination
  - school discrimination
  - civil rights
---

# HB 135. Housing; discrimination based on hairstyles associated with race, color, or national origin; prohibit

## Text

House Bill 135
By: Representatives Schofield of the 63rd, Hugley of the 141st, Burnough of the 77th, Davis
of the 87th, Bell of the 75th, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Code Section 8-3-201 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Article 1 of
Chapter 1 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, Chapter 1 of Title 34 of the
Official Code of Georgia Annotated, and Article 2 of Chapter 19 of Title 45 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions relative to fair housing, general provisions
regarding education, general provisions regarding labor and industrial relations, and fair
employment practices, respectively, so as to prohibit discrimination based on hairstyles
associated with race, color, or national origin; to provide for definitions; to provide for a civil
cause of action; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Code Section 8-3-201 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to definitions
relative to fair housing, is amended by adding new paragraphs and revising paragraphs (13),
(14), and (15) as follows:
<ins>"(13) 'Protective hairstyles' includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, locs,
twists, or other textured hairstyles.
</ins>
<ins>(14) 'Race' includes traits associated with race, color, or national origin, including, but
not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.
</ins> <del>(13)(15)</del> 'Respondent' means:
(A) The person or other entity or the state or local government or agency accused in
a complaint of an unfair housing practice; and
(B) Any other person or entity identified in the course of an investigation and notified
as required with respect to respondents so identified under subsection (d) of Code
Section 8-3-207.
<del>(14)(16)</del> 'State' means the State of Georgia.
<del>(15)(17)</del> 'To rent' means to lease, to sublease, to let, and otherwise to grant for a
consideration the right to occupy premises not owned by the occupant."
SECTION 2.
Article 1 of Chapter 1 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions regarding education, is amended by adding a new Code section to read
as follows:
<ins>"20-1-12.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Discrimination' means any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction,
restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of
differentiation or preference in the treatment of a person or persons because of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or age or the aiding, abetting, inciting,
coercing, or compelling of such an act or practice. This term shall not include any direct
or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation,
refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of differentiation or preference in the treatment
of a person or persons because of religion if an educational institution demonstrates that
</ins>
<ins>it is unable to accommodate reasonably an individual's religious observance or practice
without undue hardship on the conduct of the educational institution's operation.
(2) 'Protective hairstyle' means braids, locs, twists, or other textured hairdressing
associated with an individual's race, color, or national origin.
(3) 'Race' includes traits associated with race, color, or national origin, including, but not
limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.
(b) No individual shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of such individual's race
due to a protective hairstyle in any program or activity conducted by an educational
institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who
receive state student financial aid."
</ins> SECTION 3.
Chapter 1 of Title 34 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions regarding labor and industrial relations, is amended by adding a new Code section
to read as follows:
<ins>"34-1-11.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Discrimination' means any direct or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction,
restriction, segregation, limitation, refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of
differentiation or preference in the treatment of a person or persons because of race,
color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, or age or the aiding, abetting, inciting,
coercing, or compelling of such an act or practice. This term shall not include any direct
or indirect act or practice of exclusion, distinction, restriction, segregation, limitation,
refusal, denial, or any other act or practice of differentiation or preference in the treatment
of a person or persons because of religion if an employer demonstrates that the employer
is unable to accommodate reasonably an employee's or prospective employee's religious
</ins>
<ins>observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer's
operation.
(2) 'Employer' means any individual or entity that employs one or more employees.
(3) 'Protective hairstyle' means braids, locs, twists, or other natural, textured hairdressing
associated with an individual's race, color, or national origin.
(4) 'Race' includes traits associated with race, color, or national origin, including, but not
limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles.
(b) No employer shall fail or refuse to hire nor shall any employer discharge or
discriminate against any individual with respect to wages, rates of pay, hours, or other
terms and conditions of employment because of such individual's race due to a protective
hairstyle unless such protective hairstyle restricts such individual's ability to engage in the
particular job or occupation for which he or she is eligible.
(c) Any individual who is aggrieved by an alleged violation of this Code section may
institute a civil action against the persons engaged in such alleged violation. Such action
may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction and shall be commenced no later
than one year after the alleged violation occurred. The court may grant as relief, as it
deems appropriate, any permanent or temporary injunction, temporary restraining order,
or other order, including, but not limited to, the hiring or reinstatement of the plaintiff to
such individual's original position or an equivalent position, back pay, court costs, and
reasonable attorneys' fees."
</ins> SECTION 4.
Article 2 of Chapter 19 of Title 45 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to fair
employment practices, is amended by revising paragraph (6) of and adding new paragraphs
to Code Section 45-19-22, relating to definitions related to the "Fair Employment Practices
Act of 1978," to read as follows:
<ins>"(5.1) 'Labor organization' means an organization of any kind; agents of such
organization; an agency or employee representation committee, group, association, or
plan in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part,
of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay,
hours, or other terms or conditions of employment; or a conference, general committee,
joint or system board, or joint council so engaged which is subordinate to a national or
international labor organization.
(5.2) 'Protective hairstyles' includes, but is not limited to, such hairstyles as braids, locs,
and twists.
</ins> (6) 'Public employer' or 'employer' means any department, board, bureau, commission,
authority, or other agency of the state, <ins>or labor organization</ins> which employs 15 or more
employees within the state for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks
in the current or preceding calendar year. A person elected to public office in this state
is a public employer with respect to persons holding positions or individuals applying for
positions which are subject to the state system of personnel administration created by
Chapter 20 of this title, including the rules and regulations promulgated by the State
Personnel Board or any personnel merit system of any agency or authority of this state.
A person elected to public office in this state is not a public employer with respect to
persons holding positions or individuals applying for positions on such officer's personal
staff or on the policy-making level or as immediate advisers with respect to the exercise
of the constitutional or legal powers of the office held by such officer."
<ins>"(7.1) 'Race' is inclusive of traits associated with race, color, or national origin, including,
but not limited to, hair texture, hair type, and protective hairstyles."
</ins> SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

## Summaries written by Georgia Commons

The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.

House Bill 135 would add hairstyles like braids, locs, and twists to Georgia's legal definition of race, extending anti-discrimination protections against them in housing, public schools, and employment.

### Plain-language summary

Georgia law already bans discrimination based on race in housing, education, and employment, but current statutes do not explicitly say that includes hairstyles such as braids, locs, and twists that are commonly associated with race, color, or national origin. This bill changes several parts of Georgia law to add that protection explicitly.
It amends the state's fair housing law (O.C.G.A. § 8-3-201) to define 'protective hairstyles' and expand the definition of 'race' to include hair texture and these styles. It adds new sections to the education code (O.C.G.A. § 20-1-12) barring discrimination based on protective hairstyles at schools that get state funding, and to the labor code (O.C.G.A. § 34-1-11) barring employers from refusing to hire, firing, or otherwise discriminating against workers over protective hairstyles, unless the hairstyle interferes with the specific job. It also updates the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1978 (O.C.G.A. § 45-19-22) with the same expanded definition of race and adds labor organizations to the definition of public employer. The bill creates a civil lawsuit right for workers who believe they were discriminated against, with a one-year deadline to sue.

### What it does

- Adds 'protective hairstyles' (braids, locs, twists, and other textured hairstyles) as a defined term in Georgia's fair housing law and expands the definition of race to include hair texture and these styles.
- Creates a new Code section in the education law barring schools that receive state funding from discriminating against students based on protective hairstyles tied to race.
- Creates a new Code section in Georgia's labor law making it illegal for employers to refuse to hire, fire, or discriminate against workers because of protective hairstyles, unless the style genuinely interferes with the job.
- Gives workers who face this kind of discrimination the right to sue in court within one year, with possible remedies including reinstatement, back pay, and attorney's fees.
- Updates the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1978 to expand the definition of race for public employers and adds labor organizations to the definition of public employer.

### Who it affects

The bill affects landlords and housing providers, public and state-funded schools and their students, private and public employers, workers and job applicants, and labor organizations. It is aimed at people whose natural or textured hairstyles, such as braids, locs, or twists, are tied to their race, color, or national origin.

### Why it matters

If enacted, someone denied housing, disciplined at a state-funded school, or fired or passed over for a job because of a natural or textured hairstyle would have a clearer legal basis to challenge that treatment, including a specific right to sue an employer within one year of the incident.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 8-3-201 to define 'protective hairstyles' and expand the definition of 'race' in Georgia's fair housing law to include hair texture and these styles.
- Section 2 adds new O.C.G.A. § 20-1-12 prohibiting discrimination based on protective hairstyles in any program run by an educational institution that gets state financial assistance or enrolls students with state aid.
- Section 3 adds new O.C.G.A. § 34-1-11 barring employers from refusing to hire, firing, or otherwise discriminating against employees over protective hairstyles unless the style restricts the person's ability to do that specific job.
- Section 3 also creates a civil cause of action for affected individuals, allowing lawsuits within one year of the violation with remedies including reinstatement, back pay, court costs, and attorney's fees.
- Section 4 revises O.C.G.A. § 45-19-22 under the Fair Employment Practices Act of 1978 to add 'protective hairstyles' and an expanded 'race' definition, and adds labor organizations to the definition of public employer.
- Section 5 repeals any conflicting laws.

## Status

- Status: Introduced (2025-01-27)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-01-29)
- Sponsors: Kim Schofield, Carolyn Hugley, Rhonda Burnough, Viola Davis, Eric Bell, Jasmine Clark
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/69534

> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb135.md?full=1