(…) but I think it would be wrong to contrast my opinion with anyone else's unless they wanted to blog about it.
I don't think I understood this sentence… 👆🏻
Vincent's heart might absolutely be in the right place. But that doesn't change the fact that he has said things that are hurtful. Now, this can happen to anyone (myself included!) – especially if one simply doesn't know better. But what you want at that point is humbleness in understanding why the thing was hurtful. Not be annoyed at the people who you hurt. And especially when they're part of a marginalised group.
The highlight in the community guidelines seems like a good one, and is indeed a concrete action that holds some value. 👍🏻 Changes in the discover emoji is another. Stuff like this is some of what was asked of you.
If someone has been misunderstood, I strongly believe in giving people the chance to say what they really mean – and not imprison them in my impression of what they've said previously. Whether you want it to or not, products (like Micro.blog, but also Meta products) is linked both to its leaders, and the people working on it. And the reality is that enough people is questioning whether one of your associates thinks there should be room for transpeople. (Which might include having to type a pronoun every now and then.) Here's my recommendation to you: If this is a misunderstanding, you should, as a leader (and perhaps friend) advise him to clear up that misunderstanding. (And I think Vincent has built a bunch of cool stuff, and I'm a Tinylytics customer myself – so I want it to be a misunderstanding, heh.)
And if you don't truly get why this ordeal has hurt and disappointed some, I want you to really try to understand it.