Referring to the social constructionist ideology he sees behind the legislation (more on which later), which he sees as implying that gender is a purely subjective figment, he says: ‘Why should I respect your gender if you changed it on a whim?’ Frankly, this on a level with a tabloid reader seeing all people on benefits as fraudulent scroungers. Even allowing that these people exist (in the case of benefit scroungers, for sure; purely whim-driven trans people, less sure, given the immense social problems it can lead to), the point is that we’re talking about such a minority that the most civilised default position to take, given the plight of the majority, is to give the benefit of doubt. It’s hard to appreciate the mindset of someone who looks at the suicide and murder rates among trans people, the obvious and sometimes crippling social burdens they face, and concludes that they chose their identity due to transient fashions. A bit of the latter’s going to happen among young people, because they’re young people. (It’ll happen among some lucky old people, too). A ‘phase’ is never ‘just a phase’ — it’s a part of self-discovery and maturation. But more often than not, this is less a phase, and more something persistent and deep that’s been forbidden from articulation, causing profound pain. And part of that lack of articulation is our rigidly binary conception of gender, and its ongoing enforcement in language. On balance, Peterson’s insinuation that trans identities are just whims is hard not to categorise as transphobic.