Well said. I was always brought up to treat other people as you would like to be treated yourself, with courtesy and respect. You can't go far wrong if you stick to that principle. If you inadvertently address someone in a way they would rather you didn't, then they can politely ask you to address them differently in future. No harm done. I think you are right that there do seem to be some people who actively seek to be offended, often in behalf of other people.Too many crazy goings on in our modern world, but there are still some absolute truths.
One being that you can't offend someone who doesn't want to be offended.
Unfortunately there's a lot of people actively seeking something, anything to be offended about.