His younger brother cozied up snugly at his side, Oliver Potter, a 20-year-old YouTuber based in the U.K., admits he was very nervous about what he was about to say.
Potter was about to tell his younger sibling, Alfie, that he's gay.
"I really didn't know how a 5-year-old would take it," he says of how he expected his brother to react.
"I really don’t know how to put this," Potter begins in the video above before settling on starting by asking Alfie how he thinks about love.
Then Potter asked the big question:
"So, how would it make you feel if I married a man?"
To Potter's great relief, Alfie wasn't just unfazed by the question's implications — he was excited.
GIF via Oliver Potter.
"I saw it in one movie," Alfie explained. "And in one movie, a man was in love with another man, and then everyone was saying, 'cool,' in that video — 'cool, cool, cool, cool.'"
GIF via Oliver Potter.
It just goes to show that homophobia isn't born, it's taught.
It's tough to dig up empirical data on the issue, but story after story after story from parents explaining same-sex relationships to their kids certainly seems to suggest children are less concerned with a person's sexual orientation than adults are.
Just like Alfie seems to be.
GIF via Oliver Potter.
Potter's video was edited for length and clarity in the distinctive jump-cut style preferred by many YouTube vloggers, although there were a few technical hiccups that came his way (the video had to be cut right after Potter's coming-out question because his camera's battery died, he says). But he assures that his brother's acceptance — including Alfie's proclamation that "love is love" — was genuine.
"Alfie has been around adults ... people much older than him since the day he was born, as he is my step-mum's and my dad's child," Potter says. "So for me it's no surprise that he would come out with something like this."
Since being published on July 25, Potter's video has amassed an impressive 400,000 views (and counting).
Alfie's kindness (and general adorable-ness) has tugged at the heartstrings of people from around the world.
Photo courtesy of Oliver Potter.
The comment section on the video is filled with praises and adoration from viewers near and far. "I am overwhelmed by all the positive feedback," Potter says. "I really wasn't expecting such a response like this, never experienced a feeling quite like it. All I can say [is] thank you, and of course, love really is love."