Cultural liberalism

Cultural liberalism, also known as civil liberalism, cultural progressivism, or colloquially as social liberalism in the United States and Canada, is a social philosophy which expresses the social-relational dimension of liberalism and advocates the freedom of individuals to choose whether to conform to cultural norms. In the words of Henry David Thoreau, it is often expressed as the right to "march to the beat of a different drummer."

While those in United States often refer to cultural liberalism as social liberalism, this is not the same as the more comprehensive political ideology known as social liberalism (which uses social in economic terms, i.e. social democracy). In the United States, social liberalism describes progressive moral and social values or stances on socio-cultural issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage as opposed to cultural or social conservatism. A social conservative or a social liberal in this sense may hold either more conservative or progressive views on fiscal policy.