Changing Attitudes
Civil rights often reflect the values of society as a whole. Russia
is socially
conservative
, and LGBTQ+ people there do not have
the same rights as other people. They are not protected from
discrimination in employment, for example, and same-sex
marriages are forbidden. Civil rights activism often concentrates
on changing a particular society’s ideas and attitudes.
The American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s was
based mainly in Black American churches and colleges. It involved
marches,
boycotts
, and
civil disobedience
, such as
sit-ins
, to
publicize the complaints of the protestors. The American civil rights
movement inspired others, including the civil rights movement in
Northern Ireland, disability activism, and LGBTQ+ campaigns.
Musician Nadya Tolokonnikova is
arrested at a Gay Pride march in
favor of LGBTQ+ rights in Russia
in 2011. Civil rights protestors
are often arrested in Russia.
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