Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of the most practiced traditions, with an emphasis on the food served.
The food eaten on Thanksgiving day has been mostly the same for the past 400 years--a testament to how much of a deep-rooted food tradition it is, as it's one of the hardest (if not the hardest) time of the year to be vegan at family events.

Sitting at the same table as meat eaters during Thanksgiving

Sitting at the same table as meat eaters presents no issue when it comes to being vegan. Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude--as far as is possible and practicable--all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals.
It becomes apparent that simply being near others eating meat, wouldn't be non-vegan by itself. It would be dogmatic to see simply being near meat as morally wrong.

That said, there's an argument to be made for personal disgust and sorrow.
Thanksgiving is particularly relevant to this, because an entire turkey is very often served in the center of the table--a sight that is very often quite disturbing and saddening to people that understand the moral worth of the animal and can imagine what kind of painful life the turkey led before being slaughtered.

If you're considerably affected by the sight and by the smell, consider simply politely declining the offer to come sit at the table.
While it's good to make an effort to put veganism in a good light by appearing accepting and reasonable, and willing to participate in not-fully-vegan events to make veganism seem less seclusive to others, there's a limit to it. If you were to be distressed because of the turkey being served and eaten, it would be self-detrimental to push yourself to go through an entire evening of it.

Requesting vegan options, and catering for a vegan Thanksgiving

When going to a Thanksgiving dinner (be it at your home or someone else's), it's perfectly reasonable to ask for some vegan options to be made available to you--ask kindly though, and don't come off imposing, as diplomacy is the best tool to deal with these situations even if it's clear what should be done.

Soups, mashed potatoes, and salads are easily made vegan, and shouldn't be a problem. Offer to help the person making the dinner, even if they know what vegan meals are--as it both assures it's actually vegan, and there are no possible mistakes from someone that's not vegan and might not have clear knowledge if certain things like honey are vegan, and it puts you in a good light, as offering to help with something extra you're requesting is considered polite.

When it comes to meats, instead, it's not as easy to ask for a replacement when going to someone else's dinner.

Fortunately, though, there are vegan mock-meat Thanksgiving options in this day and age.
Brands like Gardein and Tofurky offer a vegan mock-meat turkey option, that is quite liked by people that have tried it.

You could ask if you can bring your own vegan roast to the dinner, so that you'd be able to share also the 'meat-eating' parts of the meal, and efficiently be able to show off vegan alternatives to people that might not even know about them.

However, while those options resemble a turkey in texture and taste, they don't resemble it in sight. It's, in fact, not very easy to find a vegan turkey option that looks just like a turkey in shape and/or size. If looking to make a vegan turkey yourself, to bring to someone else's dinner or to make for your own catering, check the section below--we have a great recipe that would be a great replacement in texture, taste, and looks.

Another great option for Thanksgiving, is to simply offer to host the dinner yourself.
This way, you could have a fully vegan meal for yourself, and, more importantly, for possibly many other people.
Depending on the size of the gathering, you should start preparing in advance to make sure everything is done in time, or you could ask for help to someone willing to help you cook vegan meals.

A few days in advance, you could also make sure to not have animal-based products brought at the dinner by others, by simply asking them to not bring anything. It's often tradition for people to bring something to eat at a Thanksgiving meal, and a lot of the times the asking to not bring anything is done out of courtesy, rather than an actual request. So, taking that into consideration, make sure to express your desire for them to actually not bring anything and to simply come to enjoy the meal without having to worry (not sounding too aggressive--if someone really wants to bring something at all costs, there's not much you can do about it without turning people off by being overly insistent).
By hosting a vegan Thanksgiving yourself, you'll effectively have replaced the non-vegan foods other would've eaten, had they not gone to a vegan Thanksgiving. On top of that, they would be likely introduced to new vegan alternatives that might make them open their mind more about veganism.

If you want to host a vegan Thanksgiving yourself, or if you simply want to bring your own vegan recipe to it, feel free to skim through the section below.