(Photo Credit: Nike)

Nike Is Offering A New Collection Celebrating Pride Month

June is Pride Month for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. To show solidarity, Nike released a new collection, “BETRUE.” The shoes feature the color lavender, long the gay-pride color of choice, as well as a pink triangle and rainbow shades.

Nike explained the symbols and color schemes on its official news site, Nike News.

“Also highlighted in the collection is the pink triangle,” Nike explained. “Originally used to identify gay men for persecution and internment during WWII, the triangle was reclaimed in the 1970s by pro-gay activists. It was used as a point-up triangle by the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), beginning in the 1980s with the ‘Silence = Death’ campaign, as a call to action against the AIDS epidemic, a cause to which they are still committed. Today, the pink triangle is one of the world’s most recognizable symbols of pride, resistance, and solidarity for the LGBTQ community, used to champion action for LGBTQ rights.”

As the gay community has gained acceptance in recent years, more companies have released products during Pride Month to show their support. Shoe brand Converse released its own rainbow-colored shoes, and IKEA stores issued a rainbow-print shopping bag. American Apparel released a line of Pride T-shirts with slogans like “Loud & Proud.” The collection, called How We Love, honors “how we connect, how we express, and how we love,” American Apparel says.