All opinions are our own, in partnership with NIKE BeTrue.
Let’s real talk for a moment.
It’s easy to get caught up, measuring a company’s support for the LGBTQ+ community surrounding a time like Pride, by the amount of money they donate to a specific charity or organization. Discussions from, “this company donated $300,000,” (read: shante you stay) to “this company just made a shirt, they’re not even donating anything to charity,” (read: sashay away).
And while we agree, yes, a company (with deep pockets or not; it’s 2019 and we choose not to discriminate) can and should donate back to the LGBTQ+ community for any Pride product that they create, that’s only half the saga.
Sometimes the mission isn’t just about charity. Sometimes, it’s about impact and visibility.
The impact of a global force of a brand like Nike, emblazoning the original Pride flag by Gilbert Baker, in collaboration with the Gilbert Baker Estate, entirely on an AirMax 720 sneaker or a Benassi slide.
A moment for the original rainbow flag to pop-up on millions of sneakers around the world.
If you still need the numbers, just since 2012, Nike has contributed $4 million to LGBTQ+ causes around the world, and of all kinds. Organizations from the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco to the National Gay Basketball Association, Point Foundation, and Out of Bounds — organizations that all too often don’t get the benefit of a Pride campaign built by a major brand. But, that’s only the beginning.
The impact is bigger than $4 million.
It’s in the 12 year old soccer player, empowered to be who she was born to be. It’s in the 37 year old professional football player, empowered to love who he was born to love.
All because, in some small way, they saw a sneaker or a slide with the original Pride rainbow and the classic Swoosh.
We couldn’t be more proud to be a part of Nike’s BeTrue campaign, making a stand for equality of all sexualities, orientations, and identities with an impact that wraps around the world.
“As far as we’ve come, the game won’t be equal until we all win.”
<3 C+B
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more on NIKE BeTrue, in collaboration with the Gilbert Baker Estate.
In 1978, Gilbert Baker designed the symbol for the LGBTQIA community, the rainbow flag. Baker designed the Pride flag, rainbow colored made to symbolize the diversity of the LGBTQIA movement. Together with 30 volunteers, they hand died and sewed more than 1,000 yards of cotton to create the new symbol for equality. Each color on the flag represents one of the pillars of the movement (sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic/art, serenity, and spirit). By 1990, the rainbow flag became a global icon for LGBTQIA Pride.
Nike’s BeTrue line takes Baker’s iconic symbol of Pride and uses it to amplify the positive message of this movement. Your job is to represent the Pride movement in a way that is unique and authentic to you. Style these products in a way that exemplifies your commitment to LGBTQIA Pride. We are aiming for creative, expressive, and vibrant creative assets to engage and inspire.
Shop Nike.com For The BE TRUE Collection
