By Richard Read

Time and again, Subaru has proven itself one of the most LGBT-friendly brands on the market, and you guys clearly know it. Unfortunately, that knowledge hasn’t always translated into sales of Outbacks, Foresters, and the like: Gaywheels readers do consider an automaker’s record on LGBT issues when cruising the car lots, but that doesn’t mean that it’s their top purchasing criteria.

Now, Subaru has launched a new campaign that aims to fix that — at least in part. Taking a page from Foursquare and Gowalla (which took pages from the Boy Scouts, the Brownies, and class rings), Subaru is not offering badges for owners. The badges come in two parts: one that tells the world how many Subarus you’ve owned (e.g. “This is my 4th Subaru!”) and another that says a bit more about your personal interests.

For the latter, there are badges for cycling enthusiasts and animal-lovers, gearheads and gardeners And among the 12 badges included in the program’s initial release, there’s one for the LGBT community.

Because of the way they’re designed, you can post multiple badges to your ride — like one saying you’re involved in LGBT issues, and another professing your love of musical theatre. (Hard to imagine the two going together, but work with us.) The badges come directly from Subaru, and they’re adhesive, so you can order and affix them yourself. They’re meant to sit on the back left side of your Subaru, but if we’ve learned anything from the Hanky Code, it’s that switching things up can be a lot of fun.  
 
There’s a good bit more info at www.BadgeOfOwnership.com.