It's not quite that simple. I don't use GOS because GOS and I have mutually incompatible views of user control. I prefer that I control my phone, they say I can't be trusted with that.
In which ways does GOS not let you control your device? I'm curious because to me intalling GOS felt very liberating (compared to stock)
You can root Graphene. It's not something the developers condone as it breaks their view of security, but it can be done.
That's an inaccurate portrayal of our approach and especially how it compares to LineageOS. LineageOS does not provide app or user accessible root accessible either. As a counterexample to your narrative, GrapheneOS provides full manual and automatic call recording functionality internationally while LineageOS restricts it based on region.