Sci-fi has always been political and "delivering a message". Back in the day it was warning people about the dangers of unchecked population growth, or rapid AI development. Recently it's been a lot of dystopian bioterror or dangerous scientific advancement. All of these issues are political. You can't imagine a future society without dealing with where you think our society is heading today, it's at the heart of the genre, it's always been "preachy" as you put it.

So when people say they don't want scifi to be political, they mean they don't want it to be political in a way that challenges them. Social issues like terrorism or government control? Totally fine. Social issues like gender politics? Not ok! It's an arbitrary bar, and it's incredibly transparent to everyone but the Sad Puppies that what they are really doing is trying to silence authors that challenge them.

If you don't like Scifi that scares you, don't read it. If you don't like the Hugos, start your own award. Don't whine because other people like things you don't like. It's bible belt book banning all over, just in a internet vigilante form.