Sarcasm aside... they aren't getting more respect. You can't force people to respect anything.
Here's what actually happens: People control their speech (but not their thoughts) around those "other" people for fear of social reprisal. They'll simply avoid socializing with those people for the rest of their lives.
Will they hire a gay/trans/black/muslim person? What a minefield! Better find something in their CV that makes them "less qualified"...
Few people will say these things openly, just like how fewer people would admit to voting for Trump. In the real world, Trump is still president.
This is the "anti-racists made me racist" argument. Non-racists don't turn into racists when their behavior is criticized. That's absurd.
Somehow, the media spins "a small group of people wants a place to occasionally discuss very sensitive issues" to "SAFE SPACES HAVE TAKEN OVER AMERICAN CAMPUSES". I dunno, maybe there are one or two campuses that are especially bad in this regard. But I can't help but roll my eyes at this kind of conservative pearl-clutching.
How else would you refer to the processes that lead to forcing professionals at these universities to use dozens of novel non-binary gender pronouns, or to shield students from content that may be considered "offensive" or "triggering"?
If you don't think those things are in fact serious problems, then I guess you aren't "woke" to that side of the debate. The "campus left" has done everything to brand all dissenters (including Peterson) as fascists, racists and trans/homophobes. That's an even bigger problem, because it signals cult-like behavior.
Maybe it's not bad at your particular university, maybe the examples in the media are not representative, but they are real.