I don't think she was in character I think she was way out of character. Based on her previous interactions with Kevin.1
Kevin literally said something like: "How is that faggot brother of yours? I want to pound his faggot ass seven ways from sunday, but not like I'm a fag or anything."1
Then she gets this snarky face and says something like, "Just wait until he gets his dick chopped off and it won't be gay. I mean her dick."1
She went from that to Radically and Violently Trans Positive in just one update?1
What's the other big transgender issue besides "Pronouns"? There are 3 big trans issues that actually that get any sort of mainstream media attention.
Pronouns, Sports, and Restrooms.
If you see it on the news it is usually one of those 3 topics.
They haven't done much for sports. They haven't done much in terms of sports because it is not a sport centric game and Alex although they go to the gym are not really an athlete.2
Alex is literally jerking off in the ladies room this update thinking about girls. Do you think more or less people feel comfortable with a transgender woman in the women's restroom after seeing Alex jerk off in the ladies room? What about the next woman that goes in there and sees Alex's cum all over the toilet seat? How do you think she feels about sharing a bathroom with trans folks?2
While being ultra woke it also dunks on almost all of the woke arguments, and brutally so.3
It says: Disagreements with or about transgender people about pronouns will lead to physical violence by trans people and their advocates & Transgender women will jerk off in the ladies room if you let them use the ladies room. All it needs to do to complete that trifecta of dunks on woke is do get Alex into a women's sport where she can dominate female athletes. Maybe even rob one of them that has worked for years on their sport of a scholarship!3
Heavy use of politics do not generally belong in adult games. Because it is going to split the audience because so many people disagree on many political issues. It's divisive like NTR, but without die hard supporters that will throw cash at it like they would for NTR.4
I'm not saying creators should never touch anything political with a 10 foot pole. It's their art, and they should make their art however they want to with as much creative control as possible. Make something they enjoy first and for the audience second. All I am saying is the deeper you get into any politics at all the further it will drive players away.4
Believe it or not people tend to play these games to masturbate. Not so much to reflect on their deeply held political positions or to be pandered to about the politics of the creator, or the politics they wish to project on to the player.5
People just want to jerk off, and have relatable characters to do it to.5
This update was a victory for the villians of the game for sure. It has been shown the "Pro Trans" side can not have a civil discussion without resorting to violence even with a family member, and trans women like to jerk off in the ladies room so you better watch out ladies.6
I've just played this so I'll try to address some of your points, I'm doing this in the order you wrote just so you can situate yourself.
1. About Sam, it was one update but a couple of weeks from what I gathered, also people tend to talk and act like the people around them, on the conversation that you misquoted for example Sam was talking to a transphobe and even has a thought about how the reason she is getting the pronouns wrong is because of how Elliott and the asshole dude talk and act, she even has a thought about Elliot being in her head, was she wrong there and about the comment of "just wait until she has her surgery and then you can "pound her to oblivion" her without being "homo"" (this quote is not exact) wrong and transphobic, yes it was, would she realize it with the company she keeps, no she wouldn't, the game is pretty realistic this way, also the reason for her 180 is that being brought to her attention, it is her seeing that being complacent and ignoring the problem literally brought harm to her sister, so it is pretty believable that she would act that way.
2. first, I would think you would aim your cum inside the toilet if you have half a brain and control over your hand and it would be flushed away, second this is an AVN it will have AVN moments, this is a normal scene in any other game, considering the panic surrounding this topic specifically I do now think it would be better not having this scene or having it in a private setting like their house.
3. Just no, you are not analyzing the work on its context at all (adding real-world context is fine but don't ignore the work you are talking about), the physical violence that you are talking about isn't about pronoums, it is literally about how Elliot physiologically torments her sister, something that might bring her closer to suicide and if you read the story it probably has before, something that some people would escalate to violence, which happened in the story before. The bathroom scene although as I said above could be removed or reworked so that people couldn't use it as an argument in either bad faith or lack of comprehension is common in this type of game, also she did it in an isolated cubicle with the door locked, so no one would fucking know, actually if a man did that no one would know if he sneaks in and out, this is just a non-argument. Also, the sports thing is just not factual so unless the dev wants to go a completely different direction from what the intro and first chapter shows then it would be as you wrote.
4. you are actually correct in that, people will get divided by politics but if the author wants to put that in their games they should, I just ignored 7 games with Right-wing and extreme right-wing views on politics, and intend on continuing to do so, I prefer if the author is clear with their political ideologies so I can know to not support them, don't get me wrong I hope they have their basic needs met, but I won't give them a cent.
5. Not everyone and maybe the author is aiming at people looking for games and stories and not people looking to masturbate.
6. No it isn't, this is either bad faith argumentation or you didn't pay attention to the story, even more so because that level of physical violence among siblings is child play for anyone that grew up with siblings, not saying it is right just that for anyone that grew up with a sibling that would be nothing in my country, besides that I addressed the other points above, I'll add the numbers in front of what I'm talking about on your original comment because I addressed 2 paragraphs is some and 1 in others.
I hope that helps clarify some stuff for you.
edit: this does not mean I have zero critics about this game, I have plenty, but I'm trying not to assume the author's intentions too much, or better yet trying not to assume the worst intentions.