Is deliberately misgendering a transgender person a form of backbiting?

Misgendering refers to using gendered/nongendered pronouns (he, she, they, xe , e , etc.) to refer to someone who would prefer you to use other pronouns, e.g., referring to a woman using the masculine pronoun "he". Misgendering transgender people might be done accidentally, or may be done deliberately to assert a rejection of their gender identity. When done deliberately, transgender people ordinarily consider this deeply disrespectful and insulting. I'm wondering if this would be classified as *backbiting* which is forbidden in Qur'an 49:12 "...And do not spy or backbite each other..." (and Qur'an 104 ), or if it would be classified as something else, like *slandering*, or something I haven't thought of. **Question**: Is deliberately misgendering a transgender person a form of backbiting? There's this hadith: > ... Thereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: Backbiting implies your talking about your brother in a manner which he does not like. It was said to him: What is your opinion about this that if I actually find (that failing) in my brother which I made a mention of? He said: If (that failing) is actually found (in him) what you assert, you in fact backbited him, and if that is not in him it is a slander. -- Sahih Muslim 2589 (sunnah.com ) But I'm not sure how to apply it. The part "...in a manner which he does not like" certainly applies, but the second part "If (that failing) is actually found..." doesn't seem to apply here. ---- Here's a circumstance where an appropriate answer to this question would be required: 1. Someone deliberately misgenders someone I know. I have transgender friends, and not everyone's familiar with transgender-related matters, so this is plausible. 2. I explain to them that it's backbiting, which is forbidden, with the intention of forbidding what is evil (Qur'an 3:104 ). However, since it's impermissible to talk without knowledge (Qur'an 17:36 ), nor may I declare something haram which is halal (Qur'an 10:59 ), I better be 100% certain that it is actually backbiting before saying it's backbiting.