Good Lord, I love your reply, Lunan! That is exactly what I think. I go by she/her because in the French language there are mostly gendered names and adjectives, so it is complicated to use non-gendered words even though I identify myself as NB. I don't personally like the "they/them" English alternative as I am single not plural, but I get it for those who use it.
Likewise, I personally like to think that before being a gender we are an individual and I despise the fact that societies and many religions tend to force us to fit a box labelled according to a physical, non-chosen aspect of our bodies. Furthermore, I feel the same way regarding words and expressions that seem to be used more for a gender than another. I like to use "beautiful" instead of "handsome" or "good-looking" as a personal choice because I think that it can be applied to all and any genders, and it holds a more powerful meaning to me.
Just like you, I also almost exclusively play male or NB MCs when I read IFs using if I can my own set of pronouns (zhe/zhim/zhir/zhers/zhimself). Therefore, I totally get what you say when claiming that "people should just be". That's what I like the most about IFs, we play as we want, choosing the choices, names, preferences and how we interact with others. I have read your demo the most of all the IFs I have read so far, and that's just saying how much I love it and feel connected to the characters.
Thank you, Lunan for your commitment to your story and offering us regular updates. You can even imagine how conforming it is to know that we'll get a continuation to your beloved story.