Sometimes, things are rattling around in my head for a long time and I just need to say them.
It seems obvious to me that you can't make any valid assumptions about a person by the way they look. Race, gender, height weight, tats, any of those. Sometimes clothes or certain tats or jewelry gives some indication about what they care about, but usually those are specific, they mean something in the context of a particular group, so if you are not in that group you probably don't understand them. It's what people say, and even more what they do. To me the best path is to just be polite to everyone. If you are in a situation where you will see a person often, watch what they do and listen to what they say, that will tell you if you want to be around them or not. No judgements, people walk their own path. You should walk your own, life is way to short to spend time with people that are toxic to you. Arguing with people, tying to change their mind only works if they are really looking for answers. If they are that's cool, I'm an atheist and I've had a couple of good conversations with religious people that wanted to understand.
Anyway, back to assumptions. It seems obvious to me, but unfortunately it's not to everyone else. I don't know what to do about that exactly. Like I said arguing with people doesn't work, so I make a point of treating people with respect, maybe the example will help in some small way.
Thanks for listening. :)