Petition · Cabinet Office

Include hair colour as a protected characteristic under the Equality Act

Closed 60 signatures

What the petition asks

We want hair colour to be included as a new protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, so cases of people being discriminated against due to having a different hair colour would not be tolerated or accepted.
We believe this could change the way discrimination based on hair colour would be dealt with, by treating it such as any another situation based on another protected characteristic. An example of discrimination is that a 2014 study showed that around 61% of males and 47% of females with red hair have experienced discrimination in their lifetime due to their hair colour. We believe this shows that this is a serious issue and so it should be treated that way.

Timeline

13 Oct 2025 Petition opened for signatures
13 Apr 2026 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 60
Status Closed
Department Cabinet Office
Opened 13 Oct 2025
Closed 13 Apr 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 18 Aug 2026.