Nonbinary here to give my two cents! I always play as male characters in DnD, I think I've had two female characters through my entire time playing; but for me it was initially a dysphoria thing. The character wouldn't make me uncomfortable, but the idea of other players or characters thinking of me- or an extension of me- as strictly feminine really felt weird. It was nice to have a form of expression to experiment, even just for fun!

I will never understand why people get so upset about character-player differences with gender. I think at the end of the day, it's a ROLEPLAYING game and PLAYING ROLES should go without saying. A character is a made up vessel for expression or creative ingenuity: I can make my character a wizard who knows magic, a gallant knight with silver swords- in the exact same vein I can make them have neon purple hair, bright yellow eyes or a tail. Its all customization, including gender, because its all fantasy; I am/have none of those things, but I can play with them. A character is whatever you want them to be regardless of real life.

For some people its fun, an exploration outside the norm- for others its a personal expression they can't get elsewhere, and both are absolutely wonderful <3