There's nothing wrong with making Link female. I see at least a few people saying it would be better to create a new female playable character rather than gender-bend Link. Kind of like this, I guess:
Clearly different characters. They must be, because I've never seen nerds on the internet complain that Game Freak forever ruined the sanctity of Red by genderbending him into Leaf. So, what's different about them? Well, one of them is a boy, and the other is a girl. They have different names and they're wearing different clothes... although their clothes have the exact same color schemes. Let's see, they have the same color hair... they have the same backstory and the story progresses the same way no matter which you pick...
I guess the key to having a brand new character is to give them a different name and different clothes. Oh, hang on a second.
I guess those are kind of important, aren't they? You can only change them so much.
That should do it! Those are clearly different clothes which nevertheless have the same color scheme as Link's outfit.
What is the difference between Leaf and "gender-bent" Link? Why is Link's gender such a big deal? There are a dozen different Links. The only thing they all share in common is that they have a hero's spirit. Creating a new character who shares that spirit but is female simply results in a female Link, because Link is, by necessity, the reincarnation of the Spirit of the Hero (except in Wind Waker in which he was the most badass big brother ever and re-established the Spirit of the Hero in a timeline that lacked one).
That reincarnation can be female. It doesn't mean Skyward Sword Link or the Hero of Time are being changed to a girl. As soon as you've got a new Zelda game starring a new Link, you've got a new character. That Link is different from other Links. They are not the same character. This one might have grown up on a farm, or in a forest, or on an island. He could be left-handed, or right-handed -- this was once an untouchable tradition of the characters as well, but Skyward Sword Link bucked the trend and became the first (canonically) right-handed Link. Link is not like Mario, or Samus, or Nathan Drake or Lara Croft or Gordon Freeman. Link, collectively, is not a character. Link is a concept of a character. Link is a character in Ocarina of Time, Link is a character in Link Between Worlds. "Link" as a whole, across the series, is simply a name which represents many characters.
