Social movements are not an effective way to pressure states into political change. The LGBTQ movement in Russian is a great example of this. In 2013, Russian president, Vladamir Putin passed a law that put a ban on "gay propaganda" is still in effect today.

No, social movements are not an effective way to pressure states into political change, at least not in the intended direction. Take Russia for example: as LGBT people have continued to gain more publicity and the movements have gained more traction, there has actually been reactionary change; the movement gaining traction caused the passing of the "Russian gay propaganda law", which is a law against the appearance or promotion of "non-standard sexual relations". So yeah no, not the case.

Social movements are not effective ways to pressure states into political change for several reasons. One reason being that movements can intensify a situation rather than implement political change; for example, LGBT movements in Russia has only created harsher LGBT laws that “aimed at protecting children from information promoting the denial of traditional family values.” Additionally, social movements that are progressive may not have a big impact on stubborn states that tend to stick to their traditional values. This problem is prevalent in Russia since they "enshrined discrimination in [their] national law," creating a cleavage between the traditional nationalists and progressive youths. One could argue that movements are an effective way to bring attention to a situation and therefore create pressure for political change. Although this statement is true to some extent, states such as Russia are ultimately authoritarian regimes; this mean that the opinion of the public may not really have an affect since the power is all in a group or person rather than the people.

Social Movements are a form of political participation that involves wanted change in the current status of society. In authoritarian countries, such as Russia, however, the government has no obligation to its citizens to create change in response to their needs, and social movements are ineffective. Vladimir Putin, the current president of Russia, has continuously disobeyed the needs of his citizens in favor of his political gain. In 2022, as Russia invaded the borders of Ukraine, protests formed across the nation, including hundreds of Anti-War Feminist groups. Despite these movements, Putin has ordered well over 300,000 more troops into the borders of Ukraine. To combat the opposition to this, Putin attempted to block citizens' access to the outside internet, spreading propaganda in support of the war.

Protests have also been happening since the days of the Soviet Union regarding the issues of LGBT in Russia. LGBT groups have consistently pushed for the legalization of gay marriage- or even the acceptance of gay people across Russia. Putin has openly advocated for gay marriage to be banned across Russia. Despite the efforts of his citizens, Putin banned gay marriage in 2020, labeling all promotions of it as "gay propaganda."

Social Movements cannot be used to create change in places like Russia, as there is little benefit to the government in meeting their citizen's needs.

The state of Russia has a long history of traditional values and censorship. Despite the rise of some liberalization policies after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has retained very conservative social values and beliefs. Furthermore, as Vladimir Putin has concentrated more power and the regime becomes more and more authoritarian, beliefs that challenge the norm are silenced or criminalized. In Russia, social movements are NOT an effective way to pressure the state into political change. When looking at the rights of LGBT Russians compared to cisgender, heterosexual Russians, they are minimal--if they exist at all. Though LGBT Russians have faced discrimination, abuse, and antipathy for generations, the passing of "gay propaganda" laws in 2013 and the recent targeting of LGBT people by the Kremlin over the past year has worsened their position in Russian society. LGBT civil society in Russia has existed, but barely, and as Putin gains more and more power it grows smaller and smaller. The majority of Russians believe in traditional values and have no qualms over the persecution of LGBT Russians. Political homophobia has only worsened in Russia. There is a ban on providing information concerning LGBT issues to youth, making it illegal to share information over the radio, press, television, and internet. The most recent bans in 2022 have made the "propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations" illegal, and offenders can be fined up to about $6,000 USD. This is not to say that LGBT social movements do not exist inside of Russia, as many do, such as queer clubs in St. Petersburg and LGBT art exhibits. However, many LGBT Russians such as drag queen Danya are choosing to flee rather than attempt to stand up to the government. The Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives has not been able to pressure the Kremlin into any kind of acceptance of LGBT Russians, and are of the belief that with new anti-LGBT laws in place, privileged LGBT Russians will flee while those who cannot will be forced to go underground. Russian media is heavily censored, with LGBT-themed movies and TV editing out gay scenes or altering language. Based upon the lack of LGBT social movements in Russia, how weak they are, and the discrimination of LGBT Russians by the government, social movements are not an effective way to pressure states into political change.

sources - https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/12/12/no-support/russias-gay-propaganda-law-imperils-lgbt-youth

http://www.globalequality.org/component/ content/article/1-in-the-news/186-the-facts-on-lgbt-rights-in-russia

Russia: Putin's Kremlin targets LGBT in new crackdown - BBC

Social movements are effective ways to pressure states into political change. In Russia, there have been laws passed in the last 10 years that have banned same sex-marriage from society and "gay propaganda" from schools, however, under pressure, "Russia's parliament withdrew a bill that would have ended the legal recognition of transgender people in 2020" (Time Magazine). Although it isn't the biggest show of the effectiveness of social movements in Russia it is a stepping stone to more effective LGBT social movements in Russia for years to come.

Social movements are an effective way to pressure states into political change. When citizens participate and work towards their interests in big groups, they are able to enact change in a state. After the fall of the Soviet Union, when Russia was trying to improve relations with the west, they lightened up on LGBTQ+ individuals which allowed more activists to get involved to obtain more rights. In 2001, Kathleen Feyh gave a presentation at a gender and communication conference on gay and lesbian language in Russia(https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/qed.2.1.0100). According to the Oxford research encyclopedia, there are social movements in Russia that are slightly effective. They would be more effective if they were more organized, however, the general size of Russia makes this slightly difficult. There is LGBTQ+ youth in Russia and adults, and there are some teachers who support these youth and tell them that they are in fact normal. While there is no national social movement currently, there are enough individuals who want to fight for these rights that in the near future, perhaps when Putin is no longer in power, there will be an effective mass movement. There have been LGBTQ+ rights protests outside the Duma, these individuals have been detained, but their message is spreading. Because of such protests and activists, man-with-man relations were made legal after being illegal since 1933. The EU has been leading activist movements for LGBTQ+ rights and has been trying to effect change in Russia. While there are not many LGBTQ+ rights in Russia, there is a brewing of social movements after recent bills, such as the protesting at the Duma, that will be able to effectively pressure the states into political change. The people hold the power to effectively pressure states because authoritarian regimes strive to have some sort of legitimacy. To obtain legitimacy in the eyes of their people and in the world setting(to be a global power), they will be pressured into political change. In the UK, their social movement started off rough, with many activists being jailed, but now LGBTQ+ individuals have many rights in the UK, this proves that although a social movement starts off rocky and is not super successful, it will eventually effectively pressure states into political change. With the start of social movements from the 1990s in Russia, to now, in the near future, these movements will be effective just like the UK movements. https://oxfordre.com/politics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228637.001.0001/ acrefore-9780190228637-e-1276;jsessionid=91E1D07B719D0F1CC5CA030D54F3DA83?rskey=EEaNlD&result=38

and the site Mr. Thames linked

Social movements are an effective way to pressure states into political change. One reason is that movements can create positive or negative political change. An example would be holding events such as the civil society group Moscow Pride from 2006-2011 which increased awareness of the LGBTQ scene in Russia. This made a reactionary change because the protests or events in favor of LGBTQ people caused the Russian government to create the "gay propaganda law" in 2013 which is a discriminatory law against the LGBTQ in Russia stomping on the movement in Russia.

Although social movements in Russia to improve the conditions of LGBTQ+ people have not sparked positive change, there has been political change in general in the fact that because of LGBT rights movements in Russia, Russia's government has become more restrictive. Due to groups like Moscow Pride, Russia has banned pride parades for a century, and made a constitutional ban for same-sex marriage in 2020. Global criticism has also made a huge impact, as people around the world are boycotting Russian goods because of their harshness on LGBT individuals.

Yes, social movements are an effective way of pushing a government in political change. As recently the Russian government itself is pushing to liquidate the LGBTQ+ Sphere Foundation, however, due to social pressure and movements in Russia its own courts are not likely to side with Russia on the issue. It may be a small step but it's forward nonetheless.

While multiple states have signed off on executive orders in regards to banning gender-affirming healthcare for young people, social movements have proven to be effective for pressuring states into political change. One state is certainly not the majority, but the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, has recently signed an executive order protecting rights to gender affirming healthcare, creating a safe haven for transgender people. This order was signed recently, in response to state legislatures that have put bans on healthcare for transgender youth. If executive orders against the rights of transgender people had not skyrocketed as they did, then Minnesota would not have even considered passing such an order. Another recent improvement as a result of the large amounts of anti-transgender bills was the governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker, signing off on a bill that removes barriers for the legal gender change process. AGAH I GOTTA GO

In regards to the United States, social movements are effective ways to pressure states into political change, the problem is, there are competing social movements or opinions. This divide leads to competing policies. Additionally, many policies or bills that are proposed currently, are for taking rights away rather than granting rights. This is a terrible progression of social movements enacting change in policy especially because the people involved in anti-LGBTQ+ movements are not necessarily affected by the bills and policies they fight for like LGBTQ+ individuals are. It is horrendous that people are trying to take rights away with no constitutional grounds and from what I have researched, an actual logical reason that is beneficial to the people. The hypocrisy behind anti-LGBTQ+ movements and bills is very apparent through research as they only care about having rights and freedoms for their opinions, but no one else can express themselves. I have a lot more to say on the issue, but for the sake of this, I will end here.

Social movements are an effective way of pressuring states into creating political change in the United States. This has, of course, been made clear in the history of the United States and the movements that allowed for the expansion of minority rights. However, in recent years, although social movements have been effective in creating political change many of the policies being pushed are only effective in taking AWAY people's rights, especially the rights of LGBT+ youth. Far right and conservative groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom have been very effective and loud in recent years, pushing many state legislatures into writing or passing bills that are harmful to LGBT youth, especially in public schools. These groups frame their goals in positive lights--for example, as though they are fighting to protect religious freedoms, free speech, and marriage and family. However, the religious freedom, free speech, and marriage/family that they are fighting to 'protect' are that of a very specific and already privileged group of people. Still, due to certain circumstances of the social movements like louder protesting, more funding, and more representation of their political party/ideals in Congress, their goals are the ones brought to light in Congress and therefore are enacted. So, yes, social movements in the United States are and have been an effective way to pressure states into political change, though that change may not necessarily be needed or beneficial.

Social movements can enact political change; however, sometimes this change is not always beneficial or helpful to those in the movement and leads to harsher laws. There has been a crackdown on the LGBT social movement in Russia, and as a result there have actually been more restrictions and enforcement of LGBT laws.

The U.S. currently has two opposing social movements happening at the same time. The LGBTQ+ movement has been pushing for more rights and equality and the far-right opposition. The movements can be found in all 50 states but one side will show more prominently in individual states depending on the majority is more right leaning or left leaning in politics. While some states, mostly left leaning and Democrat, are making huge strides for the LGBTQ+, the others, right leaning and Republican, are passing laws in opposition to LGBTQ+. The amount of support for each group differs depending on the region. The amount of support affects the movement's effectiveness.

Social Movements are effective ways to pressure states into political change. We see this through political participation within Russia in the form of protests and activism. Political participation is crucial in an authoritarian state such as Russia as necessary government or state changes are hard to bring to public attention, let alone implement. We see from the history of other countries, such as Mexico's LGBTQ movements, that although a movement might be met with violence and may not be successful at first with immediate results, it is highly possible that with a change in leadership, the social movements in Russia advocating for LGBTQ rights will be recognized and will create change. We also see that in the early 2000s, before Putin's regime, the LGBTQ community was blossoming, and activists founded key organizations that launched several initiatives to defend their rights. They were also able to hold their first gay pride in 2006. While some may argue that in Russia, no change will be able to happen because it is an authoritarian state that has an extremely firm grip on civil society like Iran or China. This, however, is not the case because, in comparison to Iran and China, Russians have more freedoms and a stronger civil society that allows them to be activists and protest for political change. In comparison to Iran and China, Russians stand a greater chance of brining about change, especially after Putin's rule.

Depends on the state. If they came to mine, none would walk away, and no one would know they were missing, so probably not an effective tactic here.

Yes, social movements are effective ways to pressure states into political change as seen with the continued restrictions and the global pressures placed on Russia based on LGBT Rights. Within Russia, the government is forced to react to the growing social movements like Moscow Pride and Russia LGBT Network by instituting further restrictions on the spread of LGBT information. This can also be seen by the President of the United States and other world leaders meeting with Russian Gay Rights activists, Global boycotts of Russian Products, and World Leaders condemning Russia for their anti-gay policy.

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ 2012/08/17/159025451/moscow-court-upholds-100-year-ban-on-gay-pride-events

https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/01/world/europe/russia-gay-rights-controversy/index.html