I remember reading about this case, or one similar. I thought the professor had been fired for refusing to call the student "they" instead of he or she.
I must confess it can be a bit complicated with all these gender fluidity thing going on.
On the other hand if a student wants to be called "tree" I just call it 🌲
What different does it make in the great scheme of things?
That being said, I don't want to be in the shoes of someone who has been under religious indoctrination and sees the world through blinders. Living in this post modern world, where every day some traditional norm gets subverted, for better or worse, must be a nightmare for a conservative mind.