But where is the sexism in this? And since when did companies earned the right to fire people over matters of personal opinion? Or stating they would do it when the person isn't even an employee?
This is a witch hunt, plain and simple. I'm amazed that people don't understand that this doesn't help the fight against sexism, at all...
Stating they would fire someone over this seems a bit unnecessary, but since he's not an employee at all, it has no direct consequences. But it does make clear what their company policy is: they would fire someone over this had it been an employee.
It seems a small thing to fire someone over, but if gender equality and using gender neutral pronouns are important parts of their company policy, then someone actively resisting company policy and reverting the work of people who improved the product according to company policy, would be pretty serious.
Also note that a female developer was ready to quit the community over Ben's behaviour. Ben directly contributed to a hostile atmosphere where an often excluded minority is likely to feel more excluded. That is definitely serious.
You consider it a witch hunt because you don't care about gender neutral pronouns. Probably because you haven't felt subtly excluded all your life by gendered pronouns referring to other people. Fighting that exclusion is an important part of the fight against sexism.
This is a witch hunt, plain and simple. I'm amazed that people don't understand that this doesn't help the fight against sexism, at all...