YouTubers Aaron and Austin Rhodes, or “The Rhodes Bros,” established themselves as LGBTQ rights advocates when both came out as gay to their father, Rodney, in an emotional 2015 video.
The video, titled “Twins Come Out To Dad,” is YouTube’s most-watched coming out video of all time, with more than 25 million views. (According to statistics provided by YouTube to HuffPost in October, video blogger Ingrid Nielsen’s coming out video is in second place with over 17 million views.)
To mark the three-year anniversary of their coming out, the 22-year-old twins produced a new video of themselves revisiting the original clip with Rodney Rhodes, who joined his sons via Skype. Though the original video helped put Aaron and Austin Rhodes on the map and landed them roles on the Fox horror comedy series, “Scream Queens,” the Ohio-born brothers said they’ve rarely re-watched it since its release.
The new video, released Sunday, is a poignant trip down memory lane for both father and sons. Rodney Rhodes recalled feeling “a sense of relief” when Aaron and Austin opened up to him, noting, “I made a promise to myself I would never, ever [abandon] my kids.”
“It’s one part of a person. They’re still the same person,” the father said. “I think too many people think [their sexuality] defines them. I don’t agree with that.”
The Rhodes Bros, who now boast more than 716,000 YouTube subscribers, felt similarly. “After that video, all of our relationships just got that much stronger,” Austin said, “and everything changed.”
Meanwhile, Aaron told his father that he hopes to keep the memory of the experience when he establishes his own family.
“I just hope I can a dad like you are to us,” he said.
View the original “Coming Out To Dad” video, and the other YouTube 10 most-watched coming out videos, below.