But the question was not about it in the abstract — it was someone saying, “How would you address me, if I asked you to?” It has everything to do with face to face interaction. Peterson’s answer was that it would depend on the person passing some kind of political sniff test. “It would depend on how you asked.” You is very specific. He didn’t say, “How someone asked.”

The absolutely rudest thing you can do to someone is to refuse to call them by the name they ask you to. And Peterson knows that. But since he doesn’t believe that being transgender or non-binary is an actual thing — instead he believes it’s a political act, why should he show those people respect? As he so often does, he’s then gone on to create an intellectual sounding framework that is merely a facade for his biases and shadow self.