Although everyone should have the right to live free from discrimination, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and two-spirit individuals still face prejudice around the world. While some societies have become more accepting in recent years, largely because of organized efforts and advocacy by members of LGBTQ2+ communities, others have adopted measures that limit LGBTQ2+ rights. In many places, LGBTQ2+ individuals are subject to violence and imprisonment. And even in the most open countries, they often endure harassment and bigotry.
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Nikolai Alexeyev is one of Russia’s leading LGBTQ+ rights activists. In this 2013 image, Alexeyev evades a plainclothes police officer outside the Sochi Winter Olympic Games office in Moscow. He was protesting the Russian government’s persecution of LGBTQ+ people.
(Source: Associated Press, photograph by Ivan Sekretarev)