The official term for that is "background parity" and it's a sign that the group is gaining acceptance.

thank you! i knew there had to be a technical term but i had no idea what it was.

I like writing and reading about nonhumans, and I'm a gender studies scholar, so this is something I keep an eye out for.

well, sometimes my Cybertronians come off a little more human gendered than i want them to (and sometimes a given universe or AU is set up that way on purpose) so you may not enjoy those as much. read with caution. ^_^