Pascal Kaiser, an amateur German soccer referee, proposed to his boyfriend at a soccer game in front of 50,000 spectators. The video went viral online as people celebrated the couple’s happiness.

A week later, three men appeared in front of Kaiser’s home and beat him up.

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Kaiser proposed to his boyfriend, Moritz, at a Wolfsburg-Cologne match on January 30, getting down on one knee and asking Moritz to marry him.

“HE SAID YES,” a post with the video from DW Sports read. “The moment queer football fan Pascal proposed to his boyfriend before a Bundesliga game.”

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HE SAID YES!

The moment queer football fan Pascal proposed to his boyfriend before a Bundesliga game.

Pascal Kaiser came out three years ago. He is also an Amateur referee and a huge fan of Bundesliga side Cologne. pic.twitter.com/fx3FdfTIw2

— DW Sports (@dw_sports) February 2, 2026

Many of the comments on that video are positive, but quite a few aren’t. Kaiser said that he started getting threatening messages online that included his address. He called the police about the threats, but they determined that there was no immediate danger.

But just 20 minutes after calling the police on Saturday, February 7, Kaiser went outside to smoke. Three men were waiting for him there and beat him up, he told the French sports magazine L’Equipe. He said he suffered an injury to his right eye.

According to Spanish politician Carla Antonelli, “The police intervened after the attack, and Pascal Kaiser is now in a safe place under police protection.”

“The message is terrible: if you come out, we’ll beat you into the closet,” she wrote in an Instagram post. She said that Kaiser had been getting “explicit threats that revealed the exact address of his home.”

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A post shared by Carla Antonelli (@carla.antonelli)

Kaiser said that he believes the attack is connected to the proposal video.

Kaiser came out as bisexual in 2021, one of the few people associated with professional men’s soccer to come out as LGBTQ+. He said that he came out so that people could see “a man loving a man in football,” according to Attitude.

“I see this as my mission: to create visibility,” he told the German LGBTQ+ news site Schwulissimo last year. “To be a voice. And to encourage people who haven’t yet dared to speak up. I know how lonely it can be when you think you’re the only one. I want no one to have to think that way anymore.”

In that interview, he talked about the “DMs with death threats” that he had gotten since coming out. “But they don’t break me. Because for every hate message, I receive five in which people tell me: ‘You helped me accept myself.'”

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Gay former New York City Council member Erik Bottcher (D) clobbered his Republican opponent in a recent special election for New York State Senator last week – and he has already cast his first vote.

With 88% of the votes counted, Bottcher defeated Charlotte Friedman, receiving 91.8% of the vote to her 7.5%. Friedman’s campaign website advocates for “fighting socialism,” eradicating antisemitism, and ensuring “illegal aliens… [are] removed promptly.”

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“Tonight, the people of the 47th District made a clear choice for progress, integrity, and leadership that shows up,” Bottcher said in an election night statement. “I’m deeply grateful to every voter, volunteer, and neighbor who believed that government should work harder for working families — and I’m excited to get to work.”

He promised to be a “relentless advocate for safer streets, more affordable housing, reliable transit, and an economy that rewards work and treats people with dignity.”

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Bottcher will replace the 47th district’s most recent state senator, gay Democrat Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who vacated his seat after being elected Manhattan borough president. Bottcher was originally running for Congress but changed course (despite setting a New York state fundraising record upon announcing his congressional candidacy) when Hoylman-Sigal announced he was stepping down.

“This decision is rooted in where I believe I can do the most good immediately,” Bottcher said in a statement in December. “The State Senate is where critical decisions are being made on housing affordability, addressing the mental health crisis, safeguarding our environment, and defending New York from the Trump agenda. At a moment when MAGA extremists are attacking our freedoms and undermining democracy, strong state leadership matters more than ever.”

“Running for public office has never been about titles for me,” Bottcher said. “It has never been about chasing the position with the most power. It has always been about where I can make the most meaningful difference and help make people’s lives better.”

Bottcher represented Manhattan’s Third City Council District from 2022 until now and was term-limited from running again. There, he represents a large LGBTQ+ constituency in Chelsea, the West Village, and Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan.

Last week, Bottcher celebrated casting his first vote as a state lawmaker in favor of the Medical Aid in Dying Act, originally sponsored by Hoylman-Sigal. “I am honored to continue the work of expanding compassionate choices for New Yorkers facing terminal illness,” he wrote on Instagram, explaining that the state senate finalized the bill’s passage after approving an amendment, “and I look forward to advocating for more policies that uphold dignity and respect.”

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A post shared by Erik Bottcher (@ebottcher)

Another New York Democrat, Keith Powers, also dominated his special election for a seat in the New York State Assembly. Powers received 82.25% of the vote, compared to his opponent Joseph Foley (R)’s 16.73%.

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It seemed like the Super Bowl was going to be a pretty queer night. Lesbian icon Brandi Carlile was set to sing America the Beautiful, and Bad Bunny was rumored to be wearing a dress during his halftime performance.

Instead, the evening delivered what might best be described as a “gay vague” whisper.

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The retreat was noticeable. Gay Schitt’s Creek star Dan Levy has been the face of Homes.com Super Bowl ads for the last two years, but he was notably missing in this year’s spot, which only featured co-stars Heidi Gardner and Jeff Goldblum.

Volkswagen, which featured a lesbian wedding scene in its 2024 Super Bowl spot, returned this year to the big game but made no LGBTQ+ references this time.

Even the religious campaign He Gets Us, which has in the past made LGBTQ+ inclusion part of its Super Bowl presence by featuring a queer man’s foot being washed by a priest in 2024 and a religious person embracing a gay man at Pride in 2025, omitted any references to the rainbow community this year.

Still, there were a couple of queer celebrity highlights.

Bravo and CNN star Andy Cohen appeared in a puzzling candy endorsement for Nerds Juicy Gummy Clusters in which he appears in a giant closet to give a gummi bear a makeover for a red-carpet debut.

Ritz featured gay former Saturday Night Live star Bowen Yang alongside Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm. The three are supposed to be “salty,” but the humor doesn’t compare to last year’s Super Bowl spot featuring bisexual White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza and, coincidentally, Bad Bunny.

Speaking of Bad Bunny, the halftime show was a stunning theatrical performance that wowed viewers – albeit without the rumored dress. Queer pop stars Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga’s surprise cameos won us over, and sharp-eyed viewers caught two male dancers paired together.

But back to the commercials.

With Mattel’s Ken doll celebrating his 65th birthday (yet still looking 20!), Expedia featured Ken traveling to Italy and Japan. The final shot shows him in a yellow car with a long, flowing yellow scarf trailing behind him.

In a spot for Tree Hut, we found one bearded man among 100 women who break free of boring skin products.

Turning attention to rear ends, the Super Bowl had lots of references to butts, aside from the tight team uniforms.

To the tune of Get Up Offa That Thing by James Brown, a Levi’s campaign showed us a series of famous rears, including queer crooner George Michael’s derriere (from his 1987 Faith video), Bruce Springsteen’s rump (from 1984’s Born in the USA), a voguing dancer, and bisexual rapper Doechii’s backside.

Not missing the humor in football’s “tight end” position, pharmaceutical company Novartis aired “Relax Your Tight End,” raising awareness for a new cancer screening blood test while featuring actual tight end players in various states of bliss. The narrator asks, “Have you ever in your life seen tight ends this relaxed?” Not queer, but cute.

The biggest advertising day of the year once rippled with rainbow references: gay dads for Coca-Cola, drag queens for Sabra hummus, and lesbian weddings for Volkswagen. But in the current political environment, following last year’s conservative backlash that led 20 major brands to reduce or eliminate their Pride month campaigns, it’s unsurprising that Super Bowl advertisers avoided rolling out the rainbows.

We can cheer the inclusion of Cohen, Yang and Doechii, but queer celebrities without LGBTQ+ storylines start to become more like the Ken doll – “gay vague” representation that is neither specific enough to offend anyone nor substantial enough to take Pride in.

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