I don't know if there's something special about working in web design/development but I see more identity politics here and in the community than I do anywhere else in my life, or in other industries. My partner works in education - that place of reputed wokeness - and while identity features, there isn't the politics in the school around it.
Perhaps webdev attracted a specific kind of person (who felt comfortable with the anonymity of the web?) - or is software development now the same?