I can see where people are coming from re: Phil. It's an unfortunate byproduct of their joint branding that Dan and Phil will always be compared. But also, people are within their rights to question Phil's continued, historical lack of public support for social causes in comparison to Dan. Of course it's possible that he quietly donates to charities and doesn't feel the need to publicise that, but I understand why people have more respect for Dan's more vocal approach. As wealthy white cis men, I would argue that they do have an obligation to publicly throw their support behind those less privileged members of the LGBT community (ie. black people, trans people, poor people, disabled people, those who belong to multiple of those categories etc). Dan did that today, Phil did not. We joke about capitalester, but in today's political climate I completely understand why people who are NOT wealthy white men are wary. It's okay to be critical.
However, ultimately Phil had no obligation to attend Pride. There are so many reasons he may not have, and attending Pride does not equal "being a good gay person" or whatever. His coming out was always about being lowkey, and I think that's indicative of his approach to his sexuality in general. I don't doubt that he's proud of being gay, but maybe the nature of Pride events doesn't particularly appeal to him, and that's okay. I hope others reading this forum don't feel bad for not attending Pride, regardless of whether they're out or not. I've never been to a Pride event, and while part of me would love to another part of me feels too overwhelmed by it. There should be no shame either way.
Mostly I'm just so happy for Dan. I'm so glad he felt loved and welcome and appreciated and free, and it's been incredibly touching to see him interact with fans in such a fond, loving, appreciative way. Especially after the past few weeks, where there's been such vitriol for Dan and Phil's viewers and a generalisation of us all as invasive and the direct cause of Dan's trauma. Him saying he's proud of us is so lovely, and I hope he had the best day ever. It also makes me super happy to know that he chose to march with such amazing charities rather than any corporation. Someone earlier mentioned Youtube's official presence at Pride, and I'm glad Dan chose not to march with them since Youtube has been notoriously homophobic in recent years.
My heart is genuinely just bursting with happiness for Dan
