I also had a childhood friend just remove me as a friend over one discussion. I didn't even say anything that bad, just that I thought gender roles should be abolished and biological sex should be reserved for medical situations where it matters. (I'm not even full on GC as you can see). It's always purity tests and excommunication. As someone who used to live in an authoritarian country it is VERY authoritarian and disappointing to see.
It's kinda funny if you follow the YTer "Contrapoints", [s]he has been "canceled" multiple times and always writes these groveling apologies that resemble self criticism sessions. They also drove Amanda Jette Knox (woman with AGP husband and transed kid, who literally devoted her life to stanning for trans people) to the point of suicide attempts-- you can google her name to find the info.

I too have never removed or been removed by a friend for political, social, economic, religious disagreements. Only this childhood friend who got into the trans cult. Funny thing is he (born male) did absolutely nothing to "transition" except call himself non binary, share cringey anime and communism memes, and demand everyone use "they" pronouns for him. He even kept his beard ffs.

It's disappointing to see a good friend go that way but ultimately this stuff is more like an MLM for them -- they found a little circle where they feel accepted and the circle discourages contact with "outsiders" so they just reinforce one another in their delusions. Not much we can do about somebody who's been brainwashed.