Wake County sets vote to expand protections against LGBTQ, hair discrimination
Starting Feb. 1, 2022, any discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity or hairstyle, hair type, or hair texture historically associated with race could violate Wake County codes.
The Wake County Board of Commissioners agreed Monday to vote on an expanded non-discrimination ordinance Oct. 18.
“No one should be discriminated against [based on] who they are,” said Matt Calabria, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “That’s it.”
Wake County’s ordinance would affect the parts of the county outside town and city limits unless other jurisdictions adopt it. The Raleigh City Council is scheduled to discuss the pending county ordinance Tuesday and consider expanding its own non-discrimination rules.
Wake County and Raleigh would be the 14th and 15th local governments to act on LGBTQ-inclusive protections since a statewide moratorium on local non-discrimination ordinances ended in December 2020, according to the Campaign for Southern Equality.
“Making our cities and counties more inclusive is just the right thing to do,” Calabria said.
Protecting natural hair
Chapter 34 of Title III of the Wake County Code of Ordinances protects people from discrimination by private businesses and employers “based on race, natural hair or hairstyles, ethnicity, creed, color, sex, pregnancy, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, marital or familial status, pregnancy, National Guard or veteran status, religious belief or non-belief, age, or disability.”
Under the non-discrimination ordinance, echoing the CROWN Act, protected hairstyles are defined as any hairstyle, hair type, or hair texture historically associated with race “such as, but not limited to, braids, locks, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, Bantu knots, and afros.”
Wake County initially announced it would ban hair discrimination for county employees in March. Commissioner Shinica Thomas, the sole Black woman on the board, led the effort to give county employees these protections.
Durham, Carrboro and Greensboro have all added protections against hair discrimination.
The county defines gender identity or expression as having or being perceived as having gender-related identity, expression, appearance, or behavior, “whether or not that identity, expression, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that individual at birth.”
Calabria said during Monday’s board meeting that the county worked with nonprofit Equality NC in drafting the ordinance.
Bathrooms and religious institutions are not included in the ordinance, said assistant county attorney Allison Cooper.
This story was originally published October 11, 2021 at 4:47 PM.
