system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: how do non-violent protests work? How to they achieve their goals? Any examples of mass protest causing actual change within the last 30 years?
gpt
They show that the people who hold an opinion care enough to protest about it, and will probably vote for politicians based on that issue. 

They also draw attention to the cause for people who weren't aware of the issue before. 

Gay pride parades certainly had an impact in changing people's minds on the issue of gay rights in the past 30 years. The modern ones are peaceful, even if the first one (Stonewall riot) wasn't.