Progress is a tricky little devil. It smiles, hands you a participation trophy, and then dares you to notice it’s also pickpocketed your rights while you were busy celebrating. It waves a rainbow flag during Pride Month, sponsors a float with a big corporation’s logo, and then turns around and donates to anti-LGBTQ+ politicians in July. It makes Juneteenth a federal holiday… and then bans books that talk about what made emancipation necessary in the first place.
This isn’t bitterness — it’s clarity. Hard-won, reluctantly embraced clarity.
Because when you’ve spent your life on the fringes — as I have — you learn the difference between real progress and performative appeasement. You learn that just because a door has been opened doesn’t mean the room is safe. And you learn that every time marginalized people win something that looks like equality, the backlash isn’t far behind.
One Step Forward, Two Policy Proposals Back
It’s easy to look at where we are and think, “Hey, at least it’s better than it used to be.” And sure — in some ways, it is. Marriage equality. More diverse representation in media. Increased visibility for queer, Black, Latinx, disabled, neurodivergent, and trans voices.
But visibility without safety is a spotlight on a target. And equality without infrastructure is a wish list, not a reality.
Take LGBTQ+ rights. Yes, I can get married to the man I love — but in many states, I can still be fired, denied healthcare, or harassed for simply existing. Drag queens are being legislated out of public spaces while real issues (poverty, education, healthcare) rot quietly in the background. Trans kids are fighting for the right to exist while school boards debate their pronouns like they’re hypothetical.
Progress? Or just a temporary ceasefire?
Progress with an Asterisk
It’s not just LGBTQ+ folks. Look at racial justice. After George Floyd’s murder, we saw protests, pledges, performative black squares. And then? Legislation quietly passed to restrict voting access. DEI programs got targeted and dismantled. Black history got stripped out of school curricula under the sanitized term “parental rights.” Reparations? Not even in the group chat.
Every gain seems to come with a caveat. And I’m tired of pretending that representation alone is enough. You can put a queer person on a magazine cover, but if they’re still unsafe in their own community? That’s a headline, not a solution.
Why “Progress” Becomes a Smokescreen
The truth is, progress makes people comfortable. It gives the illusion that the work is done, that the hard part is over, that we’re post-racism, post-homophobia, post-inequality. Spoiler alert: we’re not.
What we’re post- is subtlety.
The battleground has shifted. It’s not just about overt hate anymore — it’s about erasure dressed as policy, bigotry dressed as concern, regression dressed as tradition. It’s book bans wrapped in “protection.” It’s “Don’t Say Gay.” It’s “Critical Race Theory” panic. It’s everything except actual accountability.
Progress lets the mainstream feel good while the marginalized fight harder than ever to not slide backward.
The Cost of False Comfort
I get why people want to believe we’ve come far. It’s exhausting to constantly be angry. It’s disheartening to realize how fragile our so-called gains are. But I’m not interested in sugarcoating reality for the comfort of those who get to opt in and out of the fight.
I’m gay, biracial, a former nurse, a cancer survivor, and an atheist raised in a deeply religious household. I’ve been kicked out, knocked down, and damned more times than I can count. And I’m still standing. Not because the world made room for me, but because I carved out space in spite of it.
So when someone tells me “At least it’s better now,” my answer is simple: Is it better for everyone? Or just easier to ignore?
How We Fight Smarter
If we accept surface-level wins as endpoints, we’re not just pausing the fight — we’re forfeiting it. Here’s what we need to remember:
- Celebrate, but interrogate: Yes, take the win. But ask what’s missing. Who’s still being left out? Who’s paying for your progress?
- Stay uncomfortable: Growth never feels cozy. If the conversation isn’t hard, it’s probably not honest.
- Learn how power hides: Oppression doesn’t always show up with a torch. Sometimes it shows up in a suit, smiling. Learn to spot both.
- Make noise anyway: You don’t have to be the loudest. Just loud enough to remind people we’re still watching. Still here. Still fighting.
Final Thought
Progress is not a finish line. It’s a mirage that only becomes real when we keep walking toward it, together, eyes open and fists ready — not to fight each other, but to keep the doors open behind us.
Don’t be fooled by the shiny victories.
Real progress doesn’t just show up on a calendar or in a tweet. It shows up in policy, protection, and persistence. And we’re not there yet.
But we will be. Because we’re not done.
Not even close.