Oh, they should be able to sure. I agree 100%. That's not my point.
I'm saying that folks who are asking if OSR is a good entry point to RPGs shouldn't expect them to be so any more. Old school games were an entry point for some people, decades ago. Don't expect them to be a good entry point, for different people, in a different time, just because of that history.
Different people, in a different time, are likely to be better served by a different entry point.
See, on this I don't agree ... necessarily. Here's the thing- if you have an inclusive old school ruleset (say, the project Sacrosanct is working on), then that is the type of thing that could be enjoyed in a number of ways; for example, it is common for families, today, to play across generations.
I think that having kids, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, whatever ... having them be able to share in something that is inclusive and welcoming, yet also has elements that can be passed down as well, is something we should celebrate, especially in terms of entry points.
...and it's better than Monopoly!
I fully expect that the games will continue changing- 5e into 6e; other rulesets and ways of playing. I look forward to seeing what people keep making; like music, like books, like film, I expect it to continue to evolve to cater to the people that are its current audience; but also like other art forms, the past is not just the past, but also prologue.
My experience back in the day was seeing lots of gamers throwing around homophobic slurs. My understanding from queer friends is that back in the day the overall culture of gamers was not welcoming.
That's not exactly correct. Well, it is, but it isn't.
The past is so different than today, it's hard to explain. Liberace (!!) famously sued a tabloid in 1959 for hinting that he was gay. Charles Nelson Reilly, who was a go-to on TV throughout the 70s and 80s ... publicly acknowledged his sexuality in 2006.
So it wasn't the culture of gamers that "was not welcoming," it was ... the culture. All of it. Outside of pockets (such as parts of post-Stonewall NYC), it wasn't talked about.
Which is to say that many queer kids of the time gravitated to TTRPGs as a safe place to explore. No, you didn't announce it. But that said a lot more about the culture then than about TTRPGs.
(The real use of slurs, IMO, seems to have taken off more recently).