TORONTO – Controversial U of T psychology professor Jordan Peterson once again ignited a public furor last night, refusing to refer to a popular Stephen King-based horror film by the gender-neutral pronoun “IT”, on the grounds that the titular character, Pennywise the clown, is obviously a “HIM.”

According to eyewitnesses, Peterson spent 12 minutes holding up the box office line at Toronto’s Varsity Cinema while he repeatedly requested VIP room tickets for “HIM”, to the confusion of numerous employees.

“I was called over to the box office because this guy wouldn’t stop going like, ‘I’m here for HIM, I want to see HIM,’” recalled assistant manager Toby Duncan. “When I eventually clued in and asked if he meant ‘IT’, he said he most certainly did NOT mean ‘IT’ and called me a radical postmodernist ideologue trying to punish him for not using the clown’s ‘compelled pronoun.’ “

Having gained international attention last year for his outspoken refusal to call students and faculty by gender-neutral pronouns, Peterson made it clear that Pennywise – a demonic embodiment of children’s fears – would also receive no quarter.

“The objective biological reality is, Pennywise is a male monster, who is mostly a clown and sometimes a bug, but always a boy,” he explained to fellow moviegoers in the lobby. “I cannot be coerced into respecting his place in this ever-expanding community of the marginalized by calling the film ‘IT’. I will not use that clown-bug’s words.”

“And if I’m taken to jail for that, which I can only assume I’m about to be, then so be it,” he boldly declared, though by all accounts he was free to go.

In response to the persecution he’s faced at the hands of the movie theatre, Peterson has launched a crowdfunding campaign with a goal of $15,000, in order to buy a copy of the film when it comes out on Blu-ray.