5 Reasons Why—Thanks to You!—We’re Feeling Optimistic about 2023

You came out in record numbers to vote In the midterm election, rejecting election deniers and strengthening democracy. Young voters really stepped up—and Maxwell Frost, 25, of Florida was elected the first-ever Gen Z member of Congress.

You were particularly impressive in Georgia, where only about 37,000 votes separated the two Senate candidates in the general election. When we toured the state this fall, 16,000 of you signed a pledge to vote—and then you followed through. You made a huge difference on November 8 and then again in the runoff.

Ben & Jerry’s fans have been active for decades in the fight for LGBTQ rights. Respect for all people and a deep commitment to the idea that love is love are embedded in our core values. We all celebrated marriage equality in 2015, but knew even then that the fight wasn’t over.

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it became clear that other cherished rights could also be under threat. That’s when you jumped into action. Thanks to the pressure you’ve kept on elected officials around marriage equality, Congress passed and President Biden just signed the bipartisan Respect Marriage Act, which makes it illegal for any state to deny the validity of out-of-state marriages based on sex, race, or ethnicity.

You scored some huge victories for cannabis justice in 2022. Recreational cannabis use approved by voters in two more states, which is great. But the bigger news is that President Biden issued pardons for cannabis convictions! He also said that his administration would review whether cannabis should be legally categorized any longer with drugs like heroin.

It’s starting to feel like the cannabis justice movement is really picking up some momentum. Following the president’s announcement, states like Connecticut and Oregon have also begun issuing cannabis pardons, with the governor of Oregon calling it “very much a racial justice issue.

You’ve been campaigning with us to fight climate change for many years. We’ve taken to the streets in Paris, New York, and DC to demand that elected officials act immediately on the climate crisis—because time is running out.

All that organizing led to a breakthrough in 2022. The pressure you’ve put on lawmakers at every level of government helped push Congress to make sure that the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law in December, included the biggest climate investment in the history of the United States ($369 billion!).

When you came out to vote this November, you left your mark up and down the ballot. The media loves to focus on the big-name races for senator or governor, but we know that local races and local issues often have the biggest impact on our lives.

That’s certainly the case when it comes to what was on the ballot in Alabama, Oregon, Tennessee, and Vermont. Somehow, they still include references to slavery and involuntary servitude in their state constitutions. Or at least they used to, because you voted overwhelmingly in each one of those states to finally ban slavery. Now we need to get to work in the 15 (!) states where voters haven’t yet had an opportunity to do the same—let’s make sure banning slavery is on the ballot there soon!