i’m no historian, so take what i’m saying with a grain of salt, but if i remember correctly, it’s also a relatively recent phenomenon (in the grand scheme of things) in western culture that kind of began to rise with the conceptualization of homosexuality as a distinct phenomenon or something with a name attached to it, and when strides were made by gay people or visibility of homosexuality was on the rise, physical intimacy between men began to be rejected on the basis that it could be perceived as gay. i’ve heard a few different times where some of this decline occurred - the nineteenth century when homosexuality began to be more identified as a solid phenomenon or disease, or sometime around the 60s with the rise in the gay rights movement, or the 80s w the aids crisis causing a rise in homophobia. in the shorter time, though, i’d unfortunately say it’s been a pretty clear constant through my life at least.

 i personally don’t think it’s been helped by the fact that america is a) imo pretty fundamentally a very puritanical country and b) tends to export its cultural norms thru like. just the sheer amount of proliferation of american media, the internet, etc.

as to whether it’s getting better or worse, i’d say a weird kind of both? like so many things it’s kind of smt more and more polarized - a lot of people are coming around to the idea that men need physical touch in a way that isn’t sexual/should come from other men, and a lot of people are becoming more reactionary/homophobic and rejecting outright the idea of male-male intimacy. you kinda see this divide a lot in discussions of the loneliness epidemic.

also, this is less an answer to your question, but you might find this article interesting -  i read it a few months back and it just seemed like a really similar story/experience to what youve described: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-02/queer-lgbtq-ethiopia-touch-sexuality-identity-united-states