YouTuber Phil Lester Comes Out as Gay

Popular UK YouTuber Phil Lester just came out as gay!

Lester uploaded a video yesterday appropriately titled “Coming Out to You,” in which he cuts to the chase right away before discussing his coming out journey for the next several minutes.

“So I’ve known I was gay since I was about 12ish,” he shared. “I think I first noticed…when I was on a beach and I saw a beautiful, hot shirtless guy walking past with his stunning girlfriend. And I think most of my guy friends would have been like ‘wow, I wanna be him.’ Well I was like ‘wow, I wanna kiss him. Wait.’”

Lester goes on to say that he felt he had to keep this revelation to himself because of the area he lived in, and he even thought he might grow out of it.

“Spoiler alert: I did not. I grew into it.”

It wasn’t until he went off to university that he says he stopped pretending to like girls and started coming out to his new friends.

While Lester says his continual coming out journey (because it really never does end) has gotten a lot easier over the years, and he’s surrounded mostly by people who accept him now. But he also wants fans who may not have that positive experience coming out right away to know that it won’t be bad forever.

“The world is gradually becoming a better place, and with that, people are gradually becoming more accepting,” he said. “So people might react badly at first, but that’s because we’re all victims of this cultural brainwashing that puts these feelings [that being gay is bad] in our heads.”

But he has some good advice for LGBTQ viewers who find themselves around people who don’t come to accept them as they are: there may not be room for them in your life.

“It’s not something you should put up with, it’s part of who you are, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Lester’s news comes not long after his comedy partner, Dan Howell, also came out, in a video titled “Basically I’m Gay.”

Fans of Dan & Phil have long speculated over whether they may have been dating at some point. Howell called Lester his best friend and “soulmate” in his video, but stopped short of actually confirming a relationship, saying they both prefer to keep their private lives private.

Considering that, it’s pretty amazing both of these incredibly popular YouTubers took the time to come out so publicly in the hopes of creating positive change for the LGBTQ and young fans that look up to them.

You can check out Lester's full video below.