This is a straw man.

> There is a segment of the population that seems intent on being able assign and punish that assumed thought crime.

Nobody really believes this outside of trolls and maybe a tiny fraction of people that only exist on the internet.

There are real people out there that are uncomfortable with their biological gender and I can promise you that none of them are asking to be called "xe/xey/xem" or whatever people want to beleive now.

I don't think refering to trans people by the gender they want or by "they" is too much to ask.