A farmer found an unusual way to save animals and help people at the same time.
Michael Stücke has been rescuing gay rams that might otherwise be killed and turning their wool into support for LGBTQ+ advocacy. Scientific studies have found that about 8% to 10% of rams have homosexual orientation and won't mate with female ewes, which isn't considered helpful to some farmers.
What started as a local act of compassion has now grown into a nonprofit with a colorful mission and an expanding global audience.
What happened?
Stücke has worked with sheep since 1995 in Löhne, Germany. In 2023, his friend Nadia Leytes questioned what happens to male sheep when they refuse to mate with ewes.
Since they're not viewed as "profitable" to farmers, "they're getting sent to slaughter," Stücke told PEOPLE. After hearing the news, Leytes proposed Stücke start a project that eventually became Rainbow Wool.
Stücke began reaching out to farmers and hobby breeders to offer a home to rams that otherwise might be slaughtered for not mating with the ewes.
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"When we first started, there was a lot of polarizing feedback," he told PEOPLE. "Some people were saying we're crazy. What's going on? But gradually people understood that we are honest about this and we're not faking anything, because every animal that comes to [my] farm needs to do a test."
Stücke then began producing knitwear made from the rescued sheep's wool. In 2025, the popular gay dating app Grindr reached out for a collaboration. Then Rainbow Wool premiered at a fashion show in New York City in November 2025, featuring 37 knitwear pieces designed by Michael Schmidt.
"There are so few opportunities in this world to really feel good about a project or connect with people on an emotional level when you're creating a work," Stücke said. "It immediately resonates certainly with me as a gay man, but it's just indicative of a lot of things that are happening in the world and how we do or don't care for those who need to be tended to. It immediately seemed to me a metaphor for the way homosexuality is treated around the world in many countries, many places, still to this day."
Why does it matter?
Rainbow Wool rescues rams, cares for them, and uses their wool to create products that support a larger cause. That approach gives the animals a future while creating a funding stream for LGBTQ+ advocacy.
The project directs all profits to LGBTQ+ advocacy and has already helped nearly 2,000 people fleeing anti-gay persecution worldwide, according to PEOPLE.
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