If you are not arguing against equal pay for equal work Remote = lower costs does not hold.

It also depends on what you think about wage gaps and why do we need equal employment laws in the first place?

Facts don’t depend on what I’m arguing for.

I’m arguing against comparing remote work to the gender pay gap.

Being female is not comparable to being remote.

Most people have more choice about where they live than their sex or gender, for example.

I assume you are not arguing that sex and gender are just preferences.

Let's agree to disagree. Imo it is very much comparable from a negotiation power point. The fact that it is not something you can change easily is orthogonal. If you want to be pedantic you can use religion as an example.

I agree to disagree.

It is not comparable from a negotiation power point - negotiation is all about what you can and can’t trade.

Therefore whether something is a choice or not is absolutely critical to any negotiation.

Religion is a good example to consider. Can you change it? Clearly some people do. What is the cost of changing religion? Obviously very different from person to person, very different from even the concept of changing sex, and very different from changing location.