I feel like it isn’t counterproductive because of a few reasons.
1. These are clan cats, they are personified and very sentient, so it’s only realistic for them to question the gender role given to them at birth, obviously, it’s just a game, and it doesn’t need to be realistic, but it’s still a option that makes the game feel more real and makes each cat feel real as well. It’s not out of the ordinary for a person in real life to decide being male or female doesn’t sit right with them, so that is why it’s portrayed in the game to make the cats feel heavily personified :]
2. it doesn’t bother anything in the game. It’s not counterproductive, nor productive, it remains neutral and doesn’t effect gameplay at all. A cat deciding it wants to have “Tom’ instead of “She-cat” in its alliegance list does not affect gameplay and it is just a option for making people feel more accepted as trans identities become more well-known, and, I’d hate to say it, but it’s purely cosmetic and it’s not really a think that needs to be changed. It’s not bothersome, it’s not affecting gameplay, and it’s a really small change to the gameplay otherwise.
Overall having the transgender identities in the game makes queer players feel more accepted, and people who feel at discomfort about this need to just, politely, and put in the most lighthearted way, “Suck it up.” Because it’s not going to bother you if a pixelated cat decides it wants to be a different gender. And if you still cannot accept this even after the paragraphs I wrote, then that’s why there’s a “change gender” option for if you would like to change it back to the original gender.
I noticed this is a really old comment but I’d still like to reply on it so you can understand why the trans identities thing is important and should not be removed due to your discomfort over a cat game :]