after witnessing their progression over the years regarding this matter, i could draw parallels between their responses vs. the responses of myself and my other queer friends. a lot of them denied any mention of same-sex attraction whenever it came up - defending the fact that "they were straight" for years until just recently.
throughout my years in school, i've witnessed countless guys who exhibit the extremes of behavior like that. in fact, one of my good friends, who is now out of the closet, was extremely protective of his so called "heterosexuality," and on top of that, was quite homophobic. he grew up in a household with his single mother - an asian immigrant, and his grandparents who had extremely conservative values and religious beliefs. he feared the idea of even mentioning the topic in conversation, let alone coming out to them. he faced bullying and even death threats at school. to deal with the bullying, he turned into the bully instead. his hateful reaction wasn't justified, but was understandable because of the environment he was surrounded by. again, this is an extreme example of the reactions and environment that many young people face, but it does relate to the reactions many people have - especially those that are private or insecure.
even i impulsively denied my own sexuality early on - one of my first memories from grade 5 is talking to a friend about whether they support gay marriage, and i shook my head, said "ew." (how ironic - i had a pretty big crush on him) it was most likely out of fear - a fear that i would be made fun of, a subconscious fear that i might be outed.
I bring up these examples - not because they exactly reflect what dan and/or phil may have been through - but because at least drawing from my personal experiences, it seems normal for any person, regardless of their sexuality, to have had some kind of fear and denial when talking about the matter in general, and much worse - on the internet.
though it was especially prevalent just a few years ago - even today there is an obvious social stigma around two guys being close in a physical/emotional manner or sharing a bond (even a platonic one), because of the fear that they will be perceived differently. however, it is so much more "accepted" now to be more open to that kind of attraction, even platonically. more and more teens and young adults are becoming less afraid to test and experiment their attractions and sexualities in order to find their identities, and fewer and fewer people are acting negatively towards that idea.
both of them were young when they started youtube, and even though it was only 10 years ago, i would say people online were even more close-minded and ignorant than the people on the internet now. a substantial amount of the first comments on even pinof were questioning their sexuality and/or hateful and homophobic, so obviously this has been present for the entirety of their youtube careers - and with their growing popularity, not only did the "shippers" increase, but so did the negativity and hate and the interest in their personal lives.
at least when it comes to the times that dan has denied the fact that he is gay in the earlier years as shown in the video - nothing he did seemed intentionally harmful, obviously, but it did feel like he was overcompensating. i mean this in the sense that he was trying overly hard to deny it outright as straightforwardly as possible but also make sure that nothing he said was mean or homophobic. (ie.
thank you, but
NO, unfortunately not, sorry guys!) he was aware of the fact that he would be disappointing people and apologized - which is what i find to be odd. he has the assumption that every person who is curious about his sexuality is a teenager who needs confirmation of dan's sexuality in order to calculate their chances of being able to marry him
times have changed and progressed in society as a whole - but more importantly, dan and phil have both progressed in their lives and careers and relationships with each other. they are adults. i think that's more than enough reason for any realization that they had about being more open towards male attraction. furthermore, they have become more accustomed to being internet personalities and celebrities and the hate and interest in their personal lives that inevitably comes with the job. as a result, the fear and stigma has probably dissipated, and regardless of their sexualities, they can express that openness towards male attraction that they were afraid to show earlier.
I'm going through a depressive episode myself at the mo, so I empathise. Poor lad. I'd be a complete mess without my bf so I'm very glad he has Phil and so glad to see they seem to be very focused on them and their little world rn. Even with Phil's uploads and social media, it's almost like he's doing the bare minimum and feeding us as an active way of "defending their bubble" if that makes sense. 
I'm so glad I found this place, you all are so great and lovely 
(and maybe 
IDB !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I lowkey wanted a celebratory confetti emoji and mistook this one as such ----> 
but its actually just leaves oops) cheers to the future, may it be very bright and full content 
