Accusations of sexism in technology need to be taken extremely seriously, as just the accusation alone can be all it takes for someone to be publicly vilified[1] or even fired[2].
In today's technology culture, the accusation of sexism can be even more damaging than the sexism itself.
That's a key reason for all this debate taking place. HS is promoting this culture in a way that encourages other companies and communities to adopt it, and the potential for abuse and misuse is far too high. It's very easy to imagine a culture developing as a result where someone is accused of sexism where there is none, and they either accept it and offer up an empty apology or they deny it and are crucified.
[1] http://www.joyent.com/blog/the-power-of-a-pronoun
[2] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/how-dongle-jokes-...