Why in Eorzea would a gender change be any more "shocking" than a race change? Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I'd say that any Lalafell turning into a Roegadyn would be no less "shocking" than a female Miq'ote turning into a female Roegadyn. And while we're at it, no, I do not think it would be "understandable" for a Roegadyn male to suddenly become a pretty boy with cat ears and a tail that was 1/3 his former size.

I say just let everyone remake their characters -- race, gender, customization, name, and bday/guardian -- when 2.0 hits. Yes, it will be strange and maybe a little chaotic to have a bunch of characters changing race and gender and hairstyle and name OH NO! But we can deal with it. Just this once, please let us have this.

I don't believe we should be able to change our starting city though, or companies (unless there is a drastic change in lore).