Though I don't actually know, my guess is that you're on the young side of adulthood, no? The older you get, the easier it is to keep things in perspective. Like for example, when my parents were young, the n-word wasn't controversial and a lot of white people used it as the default to discuss blacks. By the time I was a kid in the 80s that was unthinkable. But, 'fag' was the de facto insult for everyone, everywhere, all the time. Transgender may have been invented as a term in academic circles back then, but it sure wasn't known to anyone in the public. The fact that conservatives are making anti-trans legislation is only possible because trans people exist in public these days in a way that they did not until very recently. It may not be perfect, but it's very difficult to not see "positive change" as being possible to hope for. Do not let short periods of noise obscure the very loud signal.
Yeah, the social change is great. Huge progress there, feels almost unthinkable to be homophobic anymore. All of this seemed to happen without voting or it really mattering who the president is. And I haven't forgotten that Biden was one of the senators passing anti gay legislation back in the 90s. I can't really point to anything in Government that's gone the way I'd like it though. I guess Obamacare was better than nothing?
I remember Tootsie. I remember the Defense of Marriage Act. I remember Murphy Brown pregnant out of wedlock. I remember Saturday Night Live saying the word "masturbate" on the air. I remember Barney Frank jokes. I remember Don't Ask Don't Tell. ALL of it was hard-fought. ALL of it was culture picking a fight with government and government not being able to muster the power to kick culture back down. And that is why Republicans hate culture - they've been steadily losing to culture since they switched from Eisenhower to Goldwater. They're on the ropes and they're swinging wildly and it's ugly as fuck and we're all bleeding but goddamnit in my lifetime we've gone from Dungeons & Dragons = Satanism to "lol Ron DeSantis is picking a fight with Disney." I lucked out. I kept Bob Dole out of office. I voted for Clinton, and he didn't suck, and then I turned 19 and it was the End of History. If your electoral awakening aligned with Trump entering office? You're gonna be cynical for life. But the culture really does want things to be more liberal, and the conservatives will always wage culture wars to stay in office.All of this seemed to happen without voting or it really mattering who the president is.