They've been slowly removing gender locks from some of the cosmetic items. It takes time because they still have to adjust each model for each race/gender combination to be added while continuing to work on new models for future gear.

The gender locks are there because some people are fashion "conservatives" who feel there should be a difference between what each genders wear. It's not a game specific issue, it's still a problem within real world society. Fortunately, that sort of thinking is slowly dying out and more are being encouraged to wear what appeals to them as opposed to be restricted to what a few feel is appropriate by gender.