Are we seriously going to take such conspiranoical approach to this??
C'mon, let's be serious: at the end of the day this is entertainment. And industrial scale entertainment, so it's all about money.
At best they don't give a shit about the fans but, "hate them because they're free"?? Seriously?
Disney wants to make money. And they probably think they'll make the more profit targeting cultural aspects that are relevant nowadays and the people who follow these. Be it feminism or other "-isms". And sure, those at charge may actually want to push their agendas in this direction (because well, many of these trends arrogate themselves some form of "superior morality"), but their ultimate goal will be making more money out of this.
Wether they did right or wrong, from this point of view, we'll see it on the (not so) long run. But at least The Force Awakens made a shit ton of money, though most of it may have been because of the hype of new Star Wars. And so did The Last Jedi.
They may be killing the saga, sure, but at the end of the day this is business. It's about making money and they are making it. Most likely they don't give a damn about the fans as long as they pay their ticket and buy merchandising and stuff.
And I agree many of the things they've done with the sequel trilogy are ridiculous (this change in the timeline being just another one). But "hate the fans because they're free"?...