Daily newsletter 7/30

➡️ Not even LinkedIn is safe from social media trolls after the platform quietly rolled back its hate speech policies, leaving transgender people and people of color at risk.

More than 70 courses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are being targeted by the Heritage Foundation for being “woke,” while FreeState Justice has filed a lawsuit challenging the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s failure to investigate anti-transgender job discrimination. In San Francisco, a gay city supervisor thought that now would be a good time to get rid of protections for same-sex couples.

If you're keeping up with the online discourse about American Eagle and Syndey Sweeney, columnist John Casey offers his take on corporate tone-deafness in the Trump era.

Until tomorrow,

Christine Linnell
Social media manager, The Advocate

LinkedIn exposes transgender users to targeted harassment after company quietly changes hate speech policy

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The changes involve edits to LinkedIn’s Professional Community Policies, specifically the “Hateful and Derogatory Content” and “Harassment and Abusive Content” sections.

Project 2025's Mike Howell targets UNC courses that mention diversity and LGBTQ+ topics

The Heritage Foundation

The University of North Carolina is determining what, if any, documents will be released.

Lawsuit challenges EEOC's failure to investigate anti-transgender discrimination

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"The Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful effort to erase protections for transgender people is cruel, and a violation of the law and the Constitution," says Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman.

Gay S.F. supervisor gets blowback for proposing to scrap domestic-partners law

City and County of San Francisco

The law requires city contractors to offer same-sex domestic partners the same benefits as married straight couples, and Matt Dorsey says marriage equality means it's no longer needed.

The intersection of CEOs' glee at layoffs and the Sydney Sweeney American Eagle 'gene' ad

SAUL LOEB-AFP via Getty Images/American Eagle Otfitters via NBC News

Opinion: There is a collision of corporate indifference, lack of empathy for employees, and no awareness of how tone-deaf branding alienates customers, writes John Casey.