11 moving LGBTQ proposals that were caught on camera

Eight years ago, Alyssa Kayhill and Anh-Linh Trinh met at a party, and it was love at first sight. They've been inseparable ever since, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit New York, they knew they had to quarantine separately. Kayhill is a nurse and she was transferred to an ICU during the pandemic, so Trinh decided to go upstate and isolate with her brother to avoid getting sick.

The couple spent three months apart, calling each other every day. Toward the end of quarantine, Kayhill decided she wanted to propose to Trinh when they finally reunited. On June 8, 2020, Trinh returned and Kayhill got down on one knee at the waterfront in Long Island City and asked the big question while the city literally applauded around them.

"It was the first time we've seen each other, and it was so many people out on their balconies and outside clapping," Kayhill told Insider reporter Matthew Wilson. "It's just this really beautiful moment that couldn't have gone better."

Kate Austin surprised her girlfriend in 2019 by getting down on one knee during a photo shoot in front of the Eiffel Tower. When Austin posted the pictures on Twitter, she tweeted at Ellen DeGeneres, writing, "My parents aren't going to attend my wedding because they don't like that I'm gay! I need someone to walk me down the aisle and someone else for a 'father/daughter' dance. Please come. My fiancée and I would cry."

The comedian invited Austin and her fiancé, Sarah Sulsenti, on her show, congratulating them on their engagement. Sulsenti took the moment to make a grand gesture by proposing to Austin in front of the live audience and their close friends and family.

"There's no better way to do it than in front of our chosen family and of course our biggest role model," Sulsenti said.

Becky McCabe and Jessa Gillaspie had their first date at the Memphis Zoo and Aquarium. When they returned to the date spot in 2018 to celebrate their anniversary, McCabe got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. Instead of immediately saying yes, Gillaspie rummaged through a bag to pull out her own ring. Turns out, they both were planning to propose to each other that day.

In a Facebook post, Gillaspie said she "had no idea [McCabe] planned to propose, and she had no idea I planned to propose to her! We were both so surprised! We were surrounded by our friends and had the most amazing night. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be able to call her my fiancé."

In 2019, a video was shared online showing an unidentified man in Brazil getting down on one knee in front of a Ferris wheel to propose to his boyfriend. When his boyfriend walks away, you think he's rejecting the proposal, but what happens next is a real surprise. He digs into a bag and pulls out his own ring that he planned to propose with too.

On a family trip to Washington in 2018, Berkley Cade attempted to propose to her girlfriend, Tori Monaco, by drawing a picture of a proposal during a game of Pictionary. While drawing, Monaco got down on one knee behind her and waited for Cade to turn around. When they realized that they were planning to propose at the same time, they burst into tears and laughter.

Buzzfeed News reported that Cade's mother was the only one who knew that both proposals were going to happen that night.

"When in the universe will there ever be two lesbians that want to propose at the same time, the same day, the same place, and the same way? I have to get it right," the mother told Buzzfeed News.

Back in 2014, Lucas Bane choreographed an elaborate musical number to propose to his boyfriend from the balcony of his Los Angeles apartment. In the video, you can see Bane dancing to Bruno Mars' "Marry You" and giving a speech via cue cards just like in "Love Actually."

Once the video was shared online, a past classmate who used to bully Bane reached out. "I just wanted you to know that what you have is awesome and wish you the best," the man said.

Bane later told the Gaily Grind that the video, proposal, and chat with his bully helped him heal past wounds.

"Like there was a sad little boy inside me and somebody went up to him and said, 'Hey buddy. Don't worry anymore. We like you,'" Bane said.

In 2012, US Marine Corps Captain Matthew Phelps and Ben Schock received an invitation to tour the White House's holiday decorations. While on the tour, Phelps got down on one knee and proposed. The pictures of the proposal catapulted the couple into fame just a year after Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed.

"I don't feel like a gay-rights symbol. I feel like a Marine, a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend, and now a fiancé," Phelps told The Atlantic. "I'll soon learn how it feels to be a husband to an amazing man. I believe in my service, I believe in love, and I believe in equality. That doesn't make me a symbol, that makes me human."

Moments after President Barack Obama finished a speech at an LGBTQ Pride Month event at the White House, a transgender man named Scout got down on one knee in the Cross Hall and proposed to his girlfriend, Liz Margolies.

"Because the last three and a half years, you have been an amazing adventure," Scout said. "Because you try harder than anyone in the world. Because while I'm a little scared to spend the rest of my life with you, because you're so damn fierce, I'm also amazingly excited about the possibility."

Margolies admittedly said she doesn't believe in the institution of marriage, so you can see her take several seconds to respond in the video. In the end, however, she says yes.

In 2019, Andrew Price took his boyfriend, Naisa Lasalosi, to the beach in Australia and led him down a path that was lined with flowers and candles. In a video of the moment, you can see Price get down on one knee and ask for Lasalosi's hand in marriage as the sun sets on the horizon.

"Yes! And yes again x1000000. I love you A," Lasalosi wrote on Instagram. "I love everything about you. My heart leaps! Happy is an understatement. Cheers to forever catching the sun and sleeping under stars together."

When Drew Marsenison was walking through Central Park in May 2013, he sat in front of Bethesda Fountain and was treated to a surprise flash mob. As the performers held roses and danced to Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years," he quickly realized the performance was for him. His partner, Carl Marucci, actually organized the entire thing and, at the end of the dance, Marucci popped the question.

"In front of all these people, I'm going to put it all out there. I love you so very much," Marucci said in the video. "With every fiber of my being, Andrew Francis Marsenison, will you marry me?"

They married in September 2013.

In 2013, a man identified as Tim hired the SF Flash Mob Crew, a company that organizes dances. The crew broke out in Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)" dance on the streets of San Francisco. Toward the end of the performance, a dancer pulled Tim's partner, Bennie, into the group to bust a move. In the end, Tim got down on one knee and, well, put a ring on it.

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