Yes, I assumed that they would be casting someone trans in the role, and agree that Murderbot could have any kind of representation. That they didn't suggests to me that they didn't trust the story to sell itself.

I do get that most film or TV shows get financing based on name recognition -- if not the authors/directors then the cast. But it seems to me there were a number of roles for secondary characters who could have had name actors cast to fill that need.