From Brandi Carlile to Bad Bunny to Lady Gaga, this year’s Super Bowl showed how queer artists and allies are reshaping America’s biggest stage. The Super Bowl has long been a battleground for symbolism, patriotism and spectacle. This year, however, it became something more subtle and arguably more powerful, a showcase of queer presence and cultural pride, woven into the fabric of America’s most-watched event.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile set the tone with a moving rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’. Openly queer and long vocal about representation for artists from marginalised communities, she said, standing on that stage is not something you decline. Speaking to Variety before the show, she said, “The throughline to being queer and being a representative of a marginalised community … it’s something you don’t say no to”.

Music icons Green Day opened the event, with frontman Billie Joe Armstrong, who is proudly bisexual, leading the band through a characteristically high-energy set. Notably, the group avoided overt political statements.

Undoubtedly, the halftime show belonged to Bad Bunny. Headlining the Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show, the Puerto Rican superstar made history as the first artist to perform an entire Super Bowl set in Spanish. Bad Bunny was joined by Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga, both long-standing queer icons. He also delivered a 15-minute celebration of Puerto Rican culture, family and Latin identity. From sugarcane fields and wedding scenes, the set was a love letter to his Puerto Rican roots.

Although he has previously used awards speeches to criticise ICE and speak out on immigration, Bad Bunny avoided direct political commentary during the performance. However, he did unfurl a banner which read “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” His only English words during the performance, “God bless America,” were followed by a roll call of nations across the Americas, a moment that felt inclusive rather than confrontational. Still, the symbolism was unmistakable.

Despite this restraint, former US president Donald Trump branded the performance “terrible” on social media, complaining that “nobody understands a word this guy is saying”. The backlash only highlighted what many viewers celebrated: that America’s biggest cultural stage is no longer defined by one language, one identity or one idea of patriotism.