In Löhne, Germany, there is a farm where being gay saves your life. Michael Stücke, 51, found out something most breeders prefer to ignore: nearly 1 in 12 sheep displays homosexual behavior, and those males that do not mate with females often end up going straight to the slaughterhouse.
Stücke decided to do the opposite. He began buying gay rams all over Germany, offering more money than slaughterhouses, until he assembled a flock of 21 animals with their own names —Karl and Wolli among them— on a farm with room for 100. There, he and his husband live surrounded by sheep that no longer have to pretend to be anything.
The wool from these rams is now turned into caps, patches, and laces for a brand called Rainbow Wool, and every dollar from sales goes to LGBTQ+ organizations in Germany. Even Bill Kaulitz of Tokio Hotel joined as an ambassador. A happy ending made of wool and all.
