Bombas has launched rainbow socks for Pride Month — and it’s sending 40% of all the socks it donates to LGBTQ youth homeless shelters

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Jen Gushue, Sally Kaplan

The sock brand Bombas has launched a line of rainbow socks in both ankle and calf length ($12 each) to celebrate LGBTQ Pride Month.
Since its founding in 2013, Bombas has donated a pair of socks to a homeless shelter for every pair sold.
For the month of June, Bombas is sending 40% of all the socks it donates to LGBTQ youth homeless shelters to raise awareness that 40% of homeless youth identify as a member of the queer community.

This June, more brands than ever are launching rainbow lines in celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month. While it’s a reassuring sign of mainstream acceptance of the queer community, it’s made it difficult to discern which companies are truly invested in giving back to the community and which are just looking to make a quick buck and raise their image at the expense of the cause. As a bona fide Queer Person™, I have a vested interest in ensuring that any Pride products I purchase are benefiting the most vulnerable members of my community, not just padding the pockets of corporate CEOs.

Bombas has launched a line of rainbow socks, available in both ankle height ($12) and calf height ($12) that directly benefit the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community — homeless youth — making them a stand-out in an overwhelming sea of rainbow options. The space-dyeing process ensures that each pair is unique, celebrating the individuality and diversity of the LGBTQ community.

Each pair of Pride socks features all the markers of great Bombas quality: its signature honeycomb technology, enhancing arch support where you need it most; a Y-stitched heel that prevents it from bunching at the back of your shoe; and a hand-linked toe seam that completely eliminates that annoying rubbing across your toes as you walk. They are far and away the most comfortable and substantial pair of socks I own, and consistently the first ones I reach for after doing a load of laundry.

Since its launch in 2013, Bombas has donated a pair of socks to a homeless shelter for every pair it’s sold. Unused clothing is the most requested donation item at shelters, and to date Bombas has donated over 21 million new articles of clothing, including socks and T-shirts to shelters. Bombas has engineered the apparel with antimicrobial finishes and reinforced seams specifically to benefit those who are unable to put on clean clothes each day. This month, they are extending their charitable mission to the LGBTQ community in honor of Pride Month.

The Human Rights Campaign reports that LGBTQ teens are 120% more likely to experience homelessness than their straight or cisgender peers. Forty percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, even though LGBTQ people comprise 10% of the general population.

To raise awareness of this statistic as well as to directly improve the lives of queer homeless youth in a small way, Bombas is giving 40% of the socks they donate to shelters that directly serve LGBTQ homeless youth in the United States. And that’s not just donations as a results of their Pride line, that’s 40% of all donations Bombas makes this month up to one million pairs of socks. So even if the rainbow socks aren’t to your taste, you can be sure that any purchase you make from Bombas through June 30 is directly benefiting queer youth.

This Pride Month, I invite you to take a deeper look into the rainbow-painted products and offerings to see what contributions (if any) the companies behind them are making to LGBTQ causes. If they’re anything like Bombas, you can feel confident in your purchase.

Find the Bombas Calf Socks for $12 here

Find the Bombas Ankle Socks for $12 here