The Missouri Senate on Thursday gave bipartisan approval to bills that would ban child marriage and discrimination against natural Black hair.
The bills passed the Senate by a vote of 32-1, with Sen. Mike Moon, R-Ash Grove, voting against both. They will now proceed to the House of Representatives.
Child marriage ban
Under current law, 16- and 17-year-olds can marry in Missouri with parental consent. Senate Bill 66 would raise the minimum age of marriage to 18 in all circumstances.
Sen. Tracy McCreery, D-St. Louis, the sponsor, said while introducing the bill for debate on Monday that banning child marriage is necessary to protect children.
“Currently, Missouri ranks 16th in child marriage per capita,” McCreery said. “Child marriage puts children at higher risk of mental and physical health issues, intimate partner abuse, social isolation and poverty. This is not only a legislative imperative but also a moral one.”
The same measure passed the Senate last year but failed to pass the House of Representatives when some Republicans argued it constituted governmental overreach.
Sen. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, said that he was initially hesitant on the ban but that it was important to keep up with the times.
“I had aunts, uncles, they were married at extremely young ages back in the day and then had 60-, 70-year marriages,” Brattin said. “It was difficult to kind of come to the realization that that’s not where we’re at any longer. Yesterday was yesterday, and this is today.”
CROWN Act
Senate Bill 38 would create the Missouri Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair Act, or Missouri CROWN Act, which would make it illegal for educational institutions to discriminate against natural Black hairstyles.
The bill's sponsor, Sen. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, said before the vote on the bill that the topic was personal to her because of how she’d been treated based on her hair type.
“I don’t want children to be told that they have to leave school, or they can’t take their school pictures, or they get their dreadlocks cut in the middle of a wrestling match, or they can’t graduate, or go to the prom,” Washington said. “All these things that have actually happened to children simply because they chose to wear their hair in braids, or an Afro, or dreadlocks.”
Last year, the same measure passed the House but failed in the Senate.
Washington said at a press conference that with the bill already approved in the Senate, she is confident it will pass this year.
The River City Journalism Fund supports St. Louis Public Radio's Statehouse internship. Evy Lewis is the 2025 reporting intern. See rcjf.org for more information about the fund, which seeks to advance journalism in St. Louis.
