This past Friday, Nike launched #BETRUE, a series of shoes commemorating Pride month. The three pairs of shoes in the series are inspired by three different cities with robust gay communities: NYC, San Francisco and Portland. As each of the three cities are quite different, the pairs of shoes have their own personality, too: the New York shoe is more tailored and fashionable while the San Francisco is a bit more edgy (think black leather) while Portland is something completely different. If you want a pair of the shoes, you’ll have to make a pilgrimage to one of these three cities pick them up; each is only sold in its respective city.

While the designs of the shoes are pretty slick (you can see a video of some sort of launch party where the shoes’ designer, Shawn Ormsby, is introduced and says a sentence about the shoes) the #BETRUE shoes are just one aspect of Nike’s commitment to visibility and Pride. On the same day that the shoes launched, Nike hosted the first global summit focused on eliminating anti-LGBT discrimination from sports. That’s a pretty big step in the right direction.

P.S. The #BETRUE slogan is not new for Nike. Sans hashtag Be True was the original Nike Dunks campaign slogan in 1985, the first time team colors were used in collegiate footwear.

(story via http://thefoxisblack.com)