Honor is gated because reaching honor levels gives you free stuff. And Riot needs to limit how much free stuff players get so that they can maintain their profits.
It's why chests and essence received heavy handed nerfs, screwing players over who had previously purchased loot with actual RP.
Honestly, anything that costs RP should not be made free by the loot system. It devalues the loot for people who actually purchase it and make skins nearly unobtainable through the free loot system itself. And the free skins players do receive are generally skins for champions they never play.
Last free skin I got was Lollipoppy. I do not play Poppy. And getting her oompa loompa skin did not encourage me to play more than one game after receiving it.
The honor system itself is a joke. It was a joke. And it remains to be a joke. People only get along with each other if they are friends outside the game or if they are winning. Otherwise, it's an endless series of flaming the designated scapegoat.