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I'm about fifteen years older than you, and I think what I'd say is, for the United States -- and a lot of developed countries -- the the majority of progress has been made on issues that matter the least in the grand scheme of things.
Like, I agree, a moderate decline in the number of homophobic jokes from culture is a good thing -- but compared to the lack of action on an existential crisis like the climate, or the active encouragement of wealth hoarding, and the deterioration of your once-vaunted democratic norms...? I mean, that's like saying, "At least my executioners were polite!"
Most of that applies to developed countries generally. For the United States specifically, you folks don't have universal healthcare, you have a tremendous problem with guns, you have tremendous problems with education, you've made precious little progress on race issues, you're backsliding on women's rights, and -- to circle back -- it's not like the actual legal situation of LGBTQ folks is great and getting better.
Basically, from the outside, it looks like your nation's vast resources are being applied to everything except improving the lives of your citizens.
And I know someone will say -- "the United States isn't homogeneous -- it's huge and there are a bunch of different states, so things aren't bad EVERYWHERE! Don't trust the news you see!" But, really, that just makes the United States looks like an orange that is slowly rotting. Some parts of it are still orange and healthy-looking, but vast swaths appear to be deep in decay.
Edit: And I really want to say, this isn't sourced from smugness or intended as an insult. It's despair for your situation. And despair for a lot of the rest of us. Because, unfortunately, the end of the United States as a functional democracy is going to pull the keystone out of the modern world, and drag all the rest of us down with you. I desperately want your country to get its shit together, while simultaneously doubting you're capable of doing so at this late date.
That was well said, and I agree with almost everything. My only disagreements would be extent to which we've made progress on certain issues -- I think race has improved considerably, and the Inflation Reduction Act was the largest government investment into green energy in the West at the time -- but when it comes down to it, I agree it still isn't enough.
The cultural change for being more pro LGBT and in favor of diversity is also more important I think than you're giving credit for. Change is going to come from the people at the end of the day, and a cultural change is necessary for that. I've seen a petrochemical company in a big oil and gas corporation get absolutely terrified: consumers demanded better sustainability, which made companies like Coke pledge to stop using single use plastics by a target date, which made the petrochemical companies start looking for innovations and sustainable improvements, because single use plastics were the lions share of their profit.
I went on a bit of a tangent there, but this is the sort of thing I like to keep in mind. You're spot on with your description of our situation, and even if it isn't happening in every single part of the US, it's still happening overall to a very large degree. Like you said, we need to get our shit together, and it won't be easy. But if I give into despair, then the conclusion is inevitable, and as you pointed out, that sinks more than just the US. To keep hope, I look at silver linings and try to think of historical contexts. And in that regard, I think we can turn things around. I think we're on the cusp of the Republican Party's destruction, and when that happens, we can start putting in serious work to fix our country. That's my hope, at least.