The holiday season is in full swing, and we feel like it’s the best time of the year to remember how wholesome, kind, supportive, welcoming, and selfless people can truly be, despite their perceived differences. That’s why we’re featuring the ‘Gates Open, Come On In’ subreddit, an online community of nearly 340k people today.

The online group presents itself as the exact opposite of r/gatekeeping and features folks being true legends who accept others no matter who they are, instead of angry gremlins who don’t want to let anyone new into their communities. Scroll down for some of the best anti-gatekeeping posts and hard proof that people really do have each others’ backs when push comes to shove.

Pssst, Pandas, if you’re looking to restore some more faith in humanity, then you’ll definitely want to check out Bored Panda’s previous article about some more great real-life anti-gatekeeping examples. You can read it right here.

#1 Everyone (Saw This Posted Somewhere Else On Reddit So Thought It’d Be Worth The Cross-Post)

Image credits: 4236DL

#2 Love This

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#3 I Just Like Animals

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‘Action for Happiness’ explained to me earlier that altruism and kindness are closely linked to our own happiness.

“Think about how you can reach out and do things for others, help a neighbor or volunteer for a cause, we get happiness high from helping other people. Or start small and simply list three things that you can be grateful for each night before bed,” Sarah Vero from ‘Action for Happiness’ shared with Bored Panda.

According to Sarah, the 10 keys to happier living are: “Giving, relating, exercising, awareness, trying out, direction, resilience, emotions, acceptance, and meaning. We are likely to be happier if our lives have direction, meaning, and purpose and if we are part of something bigger than ourselves.”

#4 Read It All

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#5 Keep Doing What You Like, Support Others Who Do The Sam

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#6 Marry Whomever You Wish

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Vanessa King, the Head of Psychology at ‘Action for Happiness,’ noted that we’re a social species and that helping others out is part of who we are. Being kind, lending a helping hand are the “social glue that keeps us together.”

“When we do things for others it activates the reward center in the brain, so when we give a gift it feels the same as receiving a gift,” Vanessa stressed.

“Small daily actions one at a time can help us to make altruism a lifetime habit. You could start out small by deciding you are going to smile at everyone you meet or pay three people a compliment today,” she said.

#7 Like What You Like

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#8 Depression Gateopening

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#9 Have A Seat, Enjoy The View, Everyone Is Welcome

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Human beings don’t hold a monopoly on empathy. Plenty of other animals have feelings and have demonstrated that they feel bad for other beings if they’re in trouble. For instance, a while back I wrote about an experiment on rat friendship.

As it turns out, rats help each other out if they sense that they’re distressed. However, they prefer to help rats who are most like them. Scientist Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal told Bored Panda that “rats will help others of their ingroup (cagemates and strangers of the same strain) but not the outgroup (strangers of a black-furred strain they are not familiar with).” In other words, rats are selective in who they help. However, this behavior changes the more familiar rats become with members of their outgroup.

#10 I Liked This One

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#11 With Open Arms

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#12 Art Is For Everyone

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“The encouraging thing is that we then found that cohabitation, living with a rat from the other strain for two weeks totally changes this behavior, and now rats will help that cagemate from the other strain. Even more impressively, after living together for two weeks with one rat of the other strain, they will help strangers from the other strain as well,” Bartal said.

The scientist added that social experience is actually what determines whether or not rats help each other, not their genetic similarity. Bartal said that in one case, rats were fostered at birth with those from another strain. “Like Mowgli, they were raised with the other strain and never encountered their own kind. When they grew up, they only helped rats of the adoptive strain, not the biological strain.”

#13 Everyone Is Welcome On This Server

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#14 You’re Not A Product

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#15 Humiliation Fetish

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In Bartal’s view, a lot of the discussion on animal empathy gets stuck on semantic issues. “For instance, the definition of empathy, how can we say that animals really feel empathy the same way we do. But empathy is a construct. We don’t even know what it is in humans really!” she said.

“I operate on the assumption that there is an evolutionary continuum between species, and that the basic building blocks of our responses are shared. Being sensitive to distress in others and motivated to care about their suffering is as old as the moment mother and child became connected for survival after birth.”

#16 Drink What You Like!!!

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#17 For All Relationships

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#18 You Are All Right

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#19 This Is Beautiful

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#20 I Love This Man More Than Certain Family Members

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#21 Everyone Starts Somewhere

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#22 We Can All Get Along!

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#23 Vegan BBQ

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#24 Anyone Can Play Games

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#25 Spread The Positivity

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#26 Let People Be Happy

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#27 Respect To You For Doing Anything

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#28 Does This Doormat Count?

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#29 Liberal Arts

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#30 Working People Are My People!

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#31 A Novel‘S Worth Of Nerd S**t

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#32 Let’s Just Love Everyone

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#33 Gaming Is For Everyone

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#34 Vent’s Open Come On In

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#35 Pros And Cons Of GF…

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#36 Fire

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#37 Love Is Always Valid. Assume The Best First!

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#38 This Subreddit In A Nutshell. This Applies To So Many Communities

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#39 Like What You Like

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#40 You’re Never Too Old For Success

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#41 Everyone Thinks Their Dog Is The Best…

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#42 Can’t Decide Whether This Belongs Here Or In Humansbeingbros

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#43 The “Let People Enjoy Things” Starter Pack

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#44 I Love My Grandma So Much. She Got Her Point Across Without Being Mean To The Family Friend

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#45 Love What You Are

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#46 Enjoy Whatever You Want

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#47 Wholesome Hotel

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#48 When The Old Becomes New Again

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#49 No Beer Is Girly Beer

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#50 Play The Game Any Way You Want

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#51 This Library’s Rules

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#52 Can’t Argue With Mom!

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#53 On Harry Potter Books And Movies

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#54 You Can’t Go Out Like That, Bob

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#55 Do You, No Matter What!

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#56 You Should Know That Elton John Famously Adores Almost Every Genre Of Music, And Is A Big Fan Of People Covering His Songs

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#57 The Only Price Of Admission Is Doing It At All

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#58 PC, Console, And Yes, Even Mobile. Talking To You Osrs

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#59 Hot Take On Regional Pizza

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#60 As A Metal Head, Everyone Is Welcome!

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#61 There’s Some Logic There

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#62 Not Everyone Can Deal With The Bs Of Running A Computer!

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#63 And Preferably Dry Them As Well

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#64 Real Radiohead Fans Welcome Everyone, Ful Stop

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#65 Wholesome Nathan Pyle

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#66 Queer Comrade Isopods

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#67 Every Fan Is Valid

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#68 You Go Whoever You Are Jojo!

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#69 You Are One Of Us Now

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#70 One To Unite Them All

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#71 All New Fans Welcome

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#72 I Hope They Have A Long And Fulfilling Relationship

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#73 R/Matt May Be One Of The Most Welcoming Subs Of All Time

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#74 You Are Valid

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#75 Helluva Boss Is A Great Show By A Great Creator

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#76 Nobody Is Born An Expert. If You’re Passionate About Something, Keep Working At It And Results Will Follow.

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#77 Idk If This Has Been Posted Yet

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#78 Michael Johnson Says If You Run, You’re A Runner

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#79 Honorule

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#80 I Wish I Was A True Fan

Source: boredpanda.com