Why do you make the conscious decision to not eat meat/animal products?

Simply, I don't need them and I don't feel it is right to contribute to climate change/ecosystem destruction/animal cruelty for my own convenience

Do you have negative feelings towards those who raise their own animals for food, such as those who raise chickens for eggs or cattle for milk, and otherwise treat the animals ethically?

There are still downsides to small agriculture such as sustainability and food production per resource usage. To directly answer the question, I don't have negative feelings towards anyone based solely on their diet. I have negative feelings towards the animal ag industries which deliberately hide information, lie about reality, and lobby the government to deceive people into not understanding the consequences or reality of their decisions. I also don't think positive change has to be all or nothing. Even just doing Meatless Monday has a positive impact, and making perfect the enemy of good just slows progress.

When did you choose to switch to a vegan lifestyle, what (if any) was the “catalyst”?

For a long time I ate vegan at home but would go to restaurants without anything I felt I could ethically eat in order to get along with people. I remember very distinctly the last time I ate meat at a restaurant and thinking "enough is enough"

What are some challenges that you have dealt with when it comes to this lifestyle?

I have missed out on social occasions and friends I otherwise would have enjoyed because they thought accommodating me when choosing restaurants was too burdensome.

Why do you believe there is a continued stigma around veganism in many physical/internet communities?

It is not only diet. People are jerks to anyone that lives differently than them that they think they can get away with being jerks to. Basically it is acceptable to be jerks to vegans, therefore people are. Someday that will change, probably.