Rainbow wool

 

Today I have a rather great story for you, I saw a docu of two gay men who take in gay sheep.

 

Usually gay sheep get "terminated" cause they refuse to reproduce with female sheep.

These guys take in all the gay sheep of Germany  and make colored wool from them.

 

"They (the sheep, and any living creature) are like nature gave it to their heart", the farmer says. A video and text is here: 

 

And this is their website with shop.

 

Here is the translation by google translate:

 

"Michael Stück's flock is said to be the first gay sheep flock in Germany. A fashion collection is now being created from their “rainbow wool”.

Michael Stücke is an open guy. There's only one thing you shouldn't ask him: How many sheep do you own? “Only the tax office and the animal disease fund find out,” he says. The question was too intimate for him. It feels like someone else looking at your own bank account. There are a few hundred sheep, that should be enough information. 

 

In any case, the question of how many sheep the farmer owns is not nearly as interesting as the question of which sheep he owns. For about a year he has been looking after another new flock on his farm in Löhne in East Westphalia in addition to his normal sheep farming operations. And this flock of sheep is not just any flock of sheep. It is – as he himself says – the first gay flock of sheep in Germany, perhaps even in the entire world.

 

The gay Valais blacknose sheep "Karl" was adopted by Bill Kaulitz. (Source: Friso Gentsch/dpa/dpa-bilder)

The animals were bought from breeders from all over Germany and can now "live and love whoever and how they want" on Stück's farm. The wool creates a fashion collection, the profits of which flow entirely into projects that strengthen queer rights worldwide. In addition to Michael Stücke, the civil rights organization Queere Diversity Association and a Cologne advertising agency are behind the Rainbow Wool project, which supports the project on a voluntary basis. Pieces is itself part of Gayfarmer, a professional association of queer people in agriculture. Together with his partner Jochen Klinge, he has been looking after sheep for almost 30 years.

 

 Sex as a stress reliever in the herd

According to studies, around nine percent of all rams are homosexual. The animals are only interested in other male sheep - and are therefore of no interest to breeders, says Stücke. Gottfried Hohmann from the Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Biology also confirms: Homosexuality is something completely normal in the animal world and occurs in countless animal species. In the animal kingdom, sexuality is not only used for reproduction, but also for reducing stress, for example within a herd.

Normally homosexual bucks end up at the slaughterhouse. Just like most sheep in Germany, because there is very little wool production in this country. Pieces also keeps some sheep for meat production. But the gay herd should only be sheared.

Surrounded by Bentheimer Landschafe, Gray Horned Heidschnucken and a Valais Blacknose Sheep, Stücks sits in his pasture on this slightly rainy Thursday and tells how he came to meet the gay bucks. Or more specifically, how the gay guys got to him. He is repeatedly interrupted by the animals, which sometimes more and sometimes less tenderly ram him in the side.

Bill Kaulitz adopts gay sheep

It all started when a friend asked him if there were gay sheep. Although he has been in the business for almost thirty years, he has never dealt with the subject in more detail. But after another conversation with the farm veterinarian, curiosity grew and Stücke became wise. When his friend suggested that he buy up gay male sheep and use their wool to make fashion for a good cause, he agreed to the venture.

Michael Stücke processes the wool from his gay sheep himself and uses a device that is over 100 years old (current photo). (Source: Friso Gentsch/dpa/dpa-bilder)

 

What followed exceeded Stück's imagination: singer Bill Kaulitz adopted two sheep as part of an advertising campaign for Rainbow Wool. Media inquiries suddenly flooded Stück's email inbox. His entire yard was transformed into a film set for a few days for a video shoot. Designers and advertising people were running around everywhere, he says."

 

Now, isn´t that a great story to join

 

 Eileen?

As this story is in East Westphalia Henry 🦁 takes a break.

To open minds and new ideas! And to saving lives!