Some people don't like having Drow or half orc characters around because interactions with locals can become strained.
Yea I like to create characters that bring an interesting spin and are fun to roleplay. In my real-life game I once played a cross-dressing character that acted like a cleric, even though he was arcane caster. My party hated it because they couldn't tell what was the truth to the character. Everything I presented in game said that he was a slightly masculine (Deeper voice and taller) woman cleric, but they knew from O.O.C. That he was a male sorcerer. The character got a bit too much for the group and got killed off, but I just thought it would be a fun spin. I don't think they were comfortable with the idea of having to treat a man like a woman. I have also DMed a game online where a player played a homosexual character and the others didn't react positively (They were manly men who fought stuff) when he would hit on them. I let him have his fun, as it wasn't hurting anyone, but the game quickly died off.