The University of Alabama – Photo: Jonathan M. Norris / The University of Alabama
The University of Alabama System has removed sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression from the nondiscrimination policies of its three campuses.
According to AL.com, archived web pages show that the words were deleted last year from the Equal Opportunity Program statements for the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
No other four-year public universities in the state appear to have removed the words, according to AL.com’s research.
The University of Alabama told AL.com that the word “sex” includes sexual orientation and gender and that there has been no change in how the policy is applied.
“The University will continue to apply its policies consistent with applicable law and remains committed to providing a welcoming environment free from discrimination and harassment for everyone,” said Alex House, the university’s associate director of media relations.
But Robert Kim, executive director of the advocacy group Education Law Center, said words and categories do matter.
“A nondiscrimination policy reflects on the institution’s mission and its goals to ensure equality and to protect against wrongful actions against students,” Kim said. “No reputable university wants to project otherwise. It should want to broadly project a positive statement of inclusion and protection for all students and faculty and personnel.”
The University of Georgia and Georgia Southern removed sexual orientation and gender identity from their nondiscrimination policies in March 2025 in an effort to comply with an executive order issued by President Trump that recognizes only two sexes and revoked a Biden executive order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The change led some faculty, students, and LGBTQ advocates to speculate that the universities would no longer protect LGBTQ students from discrimination.
Other Southern universities have not removed sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression from their policies, including the University of South Carolina, the University of North Carolina, the University of Florida, Mississippi State University, Louisiana State University, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Texas.
The categories removed from the University of Alabama System’s policy were added only a few years ago, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects LGBTQ people from workplace discrimination.
That decision, Bostock v. Clayton County, is rooted in the idea that “sex-based” discrimination includes discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity — despite the statute never explicitly mentioning either category. Because Bostock has not been overturned, LGBTQ university employees remain protected even without explicit references to sexual orientation or gender identity.
Kim told AL.com that several federal laws, including Title IX and the Higher Education Act, mandate protections against discrimination. However, the Supreme Court ruled in June that schools may limit participation on sports teams based on an athlete’s sex assigned at birth. Courts have yet to rule on whether Title IX’s broader protections extend beyond discrimination based on a person’s sex assigned at birth.
For now, Kim warned that any university that permits anti-LGBTQ discrimination and runs afoul of federal law could risk losing billions of dollars in federal grants and contracts.
“I would tread with extreme caution in changing its behavior around protecting all students no matter what their sexual orientation or gender identity,” Kim said of the University of Alabama System.
Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee and the Democratic nominee for Florida governor in 2018, has been arrested in Alabama on drug possession charges.
As first reported by TMZ, Baldwin County jail records show Gillum was arrested around 11:44 p.m. on July 2 in Daphne, Alabama, on charges of possessing dangerous drugs, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. He was released the following day.
It remains unclear what "dangerous drugs" Gillum is accused of possessing.
The 46-year-old could face up to a year in jail and a $6,000 fine if convicted of the marijuana charge, a Class A misdemeanor under Alabama law.
A former PepsiCo coordinator is suing the company, alleging it failed to stop anti-gay harassment by other employees and later fired her after she returned from family leave.
The worker -- whom Metro Weekly is not naming to protect her from retaliation by members of the public -- is described as a gay man who uses female pronouns. She worked as a coordinator managing warehouse operations and logistics from May 2022 until her termination in December 2025.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on July 24.
If you've known a true sociopath, it's likely you'll recognize the type among the three hyper-ambitious grad students in Aurin Squire's wicked new comedy My Favorite Sociopath.
Making its world premiere at the venerable Contemporary American Theater Festival, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia -- in a solid production directed by Céline Rosenthal -- the play pits the three aspiring journalists against each other for a plum job at a newspaper. And the competition gets dirty.
The tactics used by one or more of them to steal an advantage might be described as amoral. Their behavior could certainly be seen as sociopathic.
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