When opposites attack:

In the SF/F community there has been a high profile fight between a Tor.com blogger named Alex MacFarlane, Larry Correia, and Jim Hines over non-binary gender in science fiction.

Here are the stances, paraphrased:

Alex says, "I demand everyone write it, and I'm going to review books on the subject."
Larry says, "Write it if you feel like it, but it's probably not going to sell."
Jim says, "Larry is mean. I support Alex."

This has been going on for days across various mediums. I've read pretty much everything on the fight, but I think the reaction which most matched my own was John Brown's.

John basically says the best way to win over a group of readers when using unfamiliar characters is to write an awesome story. Story matters more than whether or not you use strange genders, strange powers, strange aliens, or anything else.

John is correct. Readers spawn writers, so it is imperative to reach the readers first. Without a can't miss story-- and sorry, if you are rehashing books that have failed commercially for decades you don't have a can't miss story-- focusing on the topic you want to see more of, you do not have the catalyst necessary for a sea change.

Speaking as a reader: Story is king and everything else is window dressing. I'll browse a book for window dressing but I buy for story. That's a big difference, and depending on your goals as a writer you may wish to take that into consideration when you are crafting your story.

For people who believe they are one of these various genders and want to find stories including people like themselves that might feel harsh. The truth often hurts. However, if you can't find a great story about the gender you are looking for... perhaps you should dig deep into yourself and tell the tale you wish you could read. The best fiction is born that way. Try it. You may be surprised with what you come up with and you may be pleasantly surprised by the reaction if it is truly that good. I guarantee a story wrenched from the soul is going to be a thousand times better than having someone else try to force it.

The goal shouldn't be "an end to the default of binary gender in science fiction stories". That's an authoritative "You will do this because I say so" attitude, and that will cause people to rebel. The goal should always be one thing and one thing only.

Great fiction.