civil rights

civil rights pl (normally plural, singular civil right)

1. The rights that can reasonably be expected by any citizen.
2. (US) Those rights which are guaranteed protection by the US Constitution and are considered to be unquestionable, deserved by all people under all circumstances, especially without regard to race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and disability.
   • 2013 June 21, Karen McVeigh, “US rules human genes can't be patented”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 10:

     The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.

• civil rights movement