My experience with gatekeeping in the therian community is rather limited, especially for how much of an issue it seems to be, or maybe was
I suppose I don't check the boxes for what usually gets gatekept, whatever that entails
Maybe it's because I'm actually the gatekeepy one, I feel like I'm pretty lax about how other creatures experience theriantrophy and what labels they use, so long as they're not horribly misusing a label, I don't really care
Maybe I'm gatekeeping when I express my frustrations about a group specifically for birds becoming overrun with discussions about other types and suddenly is no longer about being a bird, I don't think that's gatekeepy, but maybe I'm in the wrong
I think there has been a lot of over-correctiveness in the recent times, so maybe that's why I haven't experienced it much, I hear the old community was pretty bad about it, but I wouldn't know
Generally less gatekeeping is good, but I do also think that the current over-correction attitude is also causing some labels to be watered down, which is not good, though I don't think things like simply correcting someone should be counted as gatekeeping
Some also seem pressured to feel like they are "more therian" than others, and I really don't get that, having shifts, identifying physically, being nonhuman, or saying "I don't identify as my type, I am my type" doesn't make you any more therian than someone who doesn't shift or experiences theriantrophy psychologically or spiritually anyways?
Clarifying that identifying as physical or nonhuman or using "I am" instead of "I identify" does not automatically mean you think you're "more therian," I'm nonhuman myself, just that these are usually seen as "more therian"
I also don't think that anyone is really doing this consciously
In conclusion, I probably don't really know what I'm talking about, I just decided to ramble about bullshit ig