While I totally agree with this the gender was always selectable (male, female, neutral). I originally was going to make it mlm (since Cooper is supposed to be canonically gay) but as a queer person myself I wanted to see him navigate relationships with other queer, straight, non-binary, trans etc. furries. It didn't seem right to make a game that excluded a significant portion of furries, esp. furries that are non gender conforming.
In saying that, the way Cooper reacts to each gender is unique. I also hate the fact that I can't play as a gay male in normal otome games ;p So even though making all these options was absolute hell to code, it was a majorly important part of the overall story for me.