I’m a lesbian with a long history of activism. I know firsthand that protests work to get attention when nothing else does, and then you shove your hand in the slightly open door that’s been locked for years, and you shake the slimy hand on the other side. Because then they listen when you talk. Because then you can build influence and you can, with time, help turn one small win into many more victories and create meaningful, and long-lasting change. It’s easy to sit in our slacktivist silos and preach, but for anyone who has ever seen how legislative or policy change actually works in government or big business, the path to progress nearly always involves compromise. If you dig your heels in and don’t budge and point fingers at progress because it’s not enough, you may find yourself waist-deep in a vat of chicken fat in perpetuity…

[I]f we condemn them even while they’re making moves to be better — regardless of the reason and especially when right-wingers are also bashing them — we risk alienating them and others who are watching. All of the powerful, influential consumer brands and politicians that make decisions in our name and that impact us and our families each and every day, may think twice about changing their tunes. They may say, “Hey, that company tried to do right by people and they still condemned them. Why bother?”