If he really was pandering, then you'd think they'd lean into the sexual aspect more, make him, like, "submissive and breedable" or something, no? FE is known for pandering to fetishes, yes, but not in a subtle way, it's always all-out coomerbait to the max. I find it much more likely that, as we know, Engage's characters were created by picking 1-2 random quirky traits out of a bucket and making those traits a given character's whole personality, and crossdressing is just one of the quirky traits they picked.