I came here to post something similar myself I'd want to implement something as follows:
Add an option for all players to select a custom character or a pre-made character.
Custom characters would be genderless, but with clothing/body/hair/voice customisations that range from masculine to feminine, with all options in between.
Custom characters would also have a trait to match existing characters' personalities, which would make generic voicing without names easier.
The aim should be to make the custom characters as accessible and intersectional as possible. Gamers come in all shapes and sizes, all genders, all colours, all ethnicities, etc.
If this is adding too much work for your small development team, make it a community challenge. Give us the tools and guides to add new characters ourselves. Let us put in our time to improve the game.
