Comments Elsewhere

FWIW, it’s one thing not to hear the news, or to slip up once or twice when you’ve become used to using an old name. Nobody expects you to be perfect or omniscient. But there’s a difference between slipping up and belligerently trashing somebody’s stated preferences. if you’re the person who goes on for years still calling someone “Cassius Clay” instead of “Muhammad Ali,” even though you know he said that’s not his name anymore, then you’re the asshole here. It doesn’t matter whether or not you understand why he changed it. It doesn’t matter whether or not you sympathize with his reasons. It doesn’t matter if you think he believes something that’s weird or even crazy. You’re still the asshole here.