Well, consider the following:
My brother, part of my gaming group through Junior and Senior High School, used a wheelchair his entire life. But nobody presented the option for having a character like himself, so the possibility of doing so never occurred to us. In effect, he never had the choice offered to him. How sad is that?
Nobody here can speak for everyone. Nobody here has to. In all likelihood, some will like to play characters like themselves, other won't. And that's okay. But the option ought to be clearly available.