You are correct, as is @thorny_locust , a really dumb thing said deliberately. Now is the time to experiment while not the time to commit to a particular model.
I do think the sensible approach is to allow ‘they/them/their’ as the only alternate pronouns, and in business correspondence use ‘they/them/their’ exclusively. Those are already grammatically established.
I think it’s a good idea for a forum like this one. Not for me, so much - I have a gendered username and avatar that matches my real life gender, but a lot of posters have ambiguous usernames or even usernames and avatars that don’t match their preferred genders.
I see it as convenience, not as a political statements, much as I saw it when my doctors office would ask for preferred pronouns on their intake sheet. A lot of people had unusual or foreign names, and it wasn’t always possible to discern gender from outward appearance, especially when the person checking in was wearing cold weather outerwear. I didn’t see as a political statement but as a convenience, a way to keep the staff from inadvertently misgendering patients.
In which case, just leave the space blank. Duh.
Well BigT apparently assumes that you are if you don’t, right here in this thread. 
That is my thought as well. With most user names being ambiguous (if not told otherwise I would have guessed that puzzlegal was a male who worked in the legal profession) its nice to know how to refer to people if they have a preference. Basically I see this as a optional way for members who so desire to communicate their gender identity to those members who are interested.
I suspect that many will leave it blank but that it wouldn’t be so much for transphobic reasons as it would be due to laziness in not having updated their profile or desiring privacy.
I think a couple or rules could be added to prevent any difficulties.
No user should be hassled for their listed pronoun preference (so long as its not insulting) or lack thereof. so “none”, “vi” “they” etc. are OK but “attack helicopter” not so much.
It should not be assumed that users have read your profile. So if someone misgenders you accidentally, and you haven’t explicitly stated your preferred pronoun in a post that that person has read you can’t complain.
Very well-stated, but I’d draw a distinction between “neglect to enter their pronouns” and “refuse to enter their pronouns”.
The problem of course comes in when you (any you) see someone else’s blank pronouns and have to decide if you think they neglected or refused. As implicitly and very usefully pointed out by @Buck_Godot’s two points above.
In any scenario where WAG 10% of the populace is actively to vehemently pro-whatever and WAG 10% of the populace is actively to vehemently anti-whatever, it’s hard for the mostly disinterested 80% in the middle to find a spot to stand that’s not taking heat from one or both sides. Humans are contentious critters.
Yeah. If this board adds the option to board profiles - a feature which hardly anybody bothers with - continuing to not bother with it isn’t the same thing as “refusing.”
Why not just make the board gender neutral? After all responses refer to the post not the poster. My avatar is not gendered and my posts may appear masculine, feminine or neutral. Any response references the post, not me. Personal abuse and badgering can be flagged and judged by the mods.
I find singular use of the plural pronoun ‘they’ condescending. Akin to the imperial ‘we’.
I find these two statements in opposition. How do we make the board gender-neutral without an agreed gender-neutral pronoun? While simultaneously you as proponent of this quite sensible notion are rejecting as unsuitable the closest thing English ever had or has to a widely-agreed gender-neutral second person singular?
I personally share your misgivings about singular “they”. I use it, but I wince a bit every time. Not over its gender-neutrality which is fine w me. But over its jarring feel versus some better, but not as yet widely agreed unambiguous word for the concept.
Perhaps I used the wrong term. I meant to imply that all gendered pronouns be made acceptable because they refer to the tone of the post rather than the gender of the poster.
I think you mean third person singular.
Modern English already replaced its second person singular forms with its second person plural object form. What was “thou, thee, thy, ye, you, your” is now “you, you, your, you, you, your”. If the language can survive that, it can survive plural forms in third person.
So the freedom to misgender anybody whenever I want? No thanks.
I’m not even going to get into the idea that a post’s ‘tone’ might have a gender.
No misgendering is implied, because the actual gender of the person is unknown. Your response is simply to the post, the pronouns are irrelevant.
The goal here is communication not branding.
Pretty sure that’s a nonstarter.
Agreed, and I withdraw before I get banned again.
What? What could possibly go wrong with;
Poster A: Why did you call me “she”?
Poster B: 'Cause you post like a woman!
Yeah, no new problems there!
That’s not even a far-fetched hypothetical.
It has happened here, it happens sometimes on Wikipedia, I believe it has happened on a few other forums. While it doesn’t bother me, I can’t speak for everyone.
And it doesn’t bother me if you think I’m a guy. (But I’m definitely not a lawyer.) If we have a pronoun field, i may leave it blank.
But there are lots of people who DO care, and a pronoun field is helpful to them.
I distinctly remember clicking on your profile at one point and noting the “Mr Atama” there as contrary to what I’d expected. I think it’s because my brain insists on seeing some combination of “ma’am” and “mama” in your user name.
Haha, understood. 
Also maybe the name ending in “a” is feminine in some languages.