I responded to this initially on the other forum, but I'll repost my comment here:

What they mean by "gate-keeping" is self-evident. And on the face, you might be bewildered because it is a senseless accusation that shouldn't carry any weight. You assume there must be some 'code' or hidden meaning behind the term because of its obvious mundanity and pointlessness, but there isn't. They mean exactly what they are saying, and the 'hidden' element is that they are themselves just shallow and weak enough to think they're insulting you with something that frivolous. That's their whole big move. Accuse you of breathing.

Now, there's obviously more to it, but the crux of the issue is this over-sensitization to all conflict that has promoted this kind of basic commentary into the realm of 'abuse' and 'attack.'

You've properly identified that they are using 'gate-keeping' as an insulation against their own exertion of effort and standards of behavior. Just like 'racism,' 'sexism,' and even 'pedophilia' they mean to capture a connotation of something dire and apply it to something mundane:

Ask woman a question = sexist

Ask a black man a question = racist

Watch anime = pedo

Have any standards = gate-keeping

The flaw in all of these is that fundamentally of conflation using the barest of common traits (a woman is involved, two races are involved, anime character looks young to someone) while evoking the worst possible scenario with the accusatory word absent context as a form of pre-winning the conflict through the old political trick: "What matters is not the nature of the evidence, but the seriousness of the charge."

You might notice that one of these is not like the others though. Gate-keeping is perfectly normal, natural, and has a fundamental place in all professions, interests, and practices. Even in its most dire connotation the worst you have is a private club you aren't a member of, and probably shouldn't be. It is YOU who are at fault for being envious of a place in which you do not belong. But they take this common 'evil' and stretch it to mean that all borders are bad, all standards are pointless, and all group-identity should be abolished because it is 'exclusionary.'

Finally, there is a nefarious and intentional insidiousness at play as well. They want access to your group, not because it is attractive, but because you have it. They want to use that access to destroy what you have, mark it as their territory, and force you to leave. It is a power-play. They're happiest when they are collecting scalps. Trophies to share with their friends who also rage against the machine that is patriarchy, maleness, whiteness, western-ness. You are their political enemy, and your possessions, your toys, your hobbies, they will delight in destroying while you watch, helpless because you weren't able to 'gate-keep' them out. They laugh at your pitiable failure to protect what you loved. They laugh because your sadness is their mission accomplished.

I responded to this initially on the other forum, but I'll repost my comment here:

What they mean by "gate-keeping" is self-evident. And on the face, you might be bewildered because it is a senseless accusation that shouldn't carry any weight. You assume there must be some 'code' or hidden meaning behind the term because of its obvious mundanity and pointlessness, but there isn't. They mean exactly what they are saying, and the 'hidden' element is that they are themselves just shallow and weak enough to think they're insulting you with something that frivolous. That's their whole big move. Accuse you of breathing.

Now, there's obviously more to it, but the crux of the issue is this over-sensitization to all conflict that has promoted this kind of basic commentary into the realm of 'abuse' and 'attack.'

You've properly identified that they are using 'gate-keeping' as an insulation against their own exertion of effort and standards of behavior. Just like 'racism,' 'sexism,' and even 'pedophilia' they mean to capture a connotation of something dire and apply it to something mundane:

Ask woman a question = sexist

Ask a black man a question = racist

Watch anime = pedo

Have any standards = gate-keeping

The flaw in all of these is that fundamentally of conflation using the barest of common traits (a woman is involved, two races are involved, anime character looks young to someone) while evoking the worst possible scenario with the accusatory word absent context as a form of pre-winning the conflict through the old political trick: "What matters is not the nature of the evidence, but the seriousness of the charge."

You might notice that one of these is not like the others though. Gate-keeping is perfectly normal, natural, and has a fundamental place in all professions, interests, and practices. Even in it's most dire connotation the worst you have is a private club you aren't a member of, and probably shouldn't be. It is YOU who are at fault for being envious of a place in which you do not belong. But they take this common 'evil' and stretch it to mean that all borders are bad, all standards are pointless, and all group-identity should be abolished because it is 'exclusionary.'

Finally, there is a nefarious and intentional insidiousness at play as well. They want access to your group, not because it is attractive, but because you have it. They want to use that access to destroy what you have, mark it as their territory, and force you to leave. It is a power-play. They're happiest when they are collecting scalps. Trophies to share with their friends who also rage against the machine that is patriarchy, maleness, whiteness, western-ness. You are their political enemy, and your possessions, your toys, your hobbies, they will delight in destroying while you watch, helpless because you weren't able to 'gate-keep' them out. They laugh at your pitiable failure to protect that you loved. They laugh because your sadness is their mission accomplished.