John Mathew Smith / Wikimedia Commons
A campaign promoting adoptions for same-sex and transgender parents has surprised Christians by invoking the name of Dave Thomas, the late Wendy’s founder who infuriated gay rights protesters in the 1990s.
They argue that the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption’s recent ad blitz to help LGBTQ foster children find homes undermines the intentions of the smiling, white-haired fast-food tycoon who once graced every Wendy’s hamburger commercial.
Thomas, a well-known Republican and Protestant Christian, established the charity in 1992 at the behest of President George H.W. Bush. Christian advocacy groups long praised its stance of promoting adoption as a substitute for abortion.
“It appears that radical elements of the Dave Thomas Foundation have instigated this billboard project,” said Carter LeCraw, founder of American Values Investments, a Tennessee-based Christian investment advisory firm.
In 1998, LGBTQ groups boycotted Wendy’s and blamed Thomas after the chain pulled its sponsorship from talk show host Ellen DeGeneres ahead of an episode where she came out as a lesbian.
For people who remember those days, the ads featuring a smiling gay Texas couple with their three adopted sons spark cognitive dissonance. The images have cropped up in D.C. bus stations, on billboards along North Carolina highways and in videos posted by the foundation over the past year.
“Based on his views for protecting children, I don’t believe [Thomas] nor the majority of Americans would be supportive of transgender parents adopting children without research confirming healthy outcomes,” said Kendall Qualls, a board member at Hope Farm School, an institution for at-risk boys from Minneapolis.
Mr. Qualls is an ambassador for Project 21, a network of Black conservatives. He recalled Thomas as a conservative Republican who embodied “the American dream” by rising from his humble origin as an adopted infant in 1932 to become a generous supporter of adoption as an alternative to abortion.
Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the conservative North Carolina Values Coalition, said “activists in the foundation have hijacked the mission to push an LGBTQ agenda,” despite the fact that current North Carolina policies are more likely to exclude Christians with religious objections to “affirming LGBTQ identities” from adopting.
“Recruiting same-sex couples to adopt and foster children is not in the best interests of children,” Ms. Fitzgerald said. “Research shows that the Biblical model of a two-parent home, that includes both a mom and a dad, is the best environment for children to grow up in.”
In recent years, gay rights advocates have gradually rebranded Thomas as a socially moderate Republican in the mold of former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and former Ohio Sen. Rob Portman. All supported the Supreme Court’s legalization of gay marriage in 2015.
“I believe his own lived experience with adoption likely shaped his inclusive stance on the issue, even as he donated to some conservative causes,” said Eugene Dilan, a California-based business consultant specializing in equity, inclusion and diversity. “Some individuals identify as conservative for economic reasons while still holding socially liberal views.”
Thomas died in 2002 before gay marriage became a political issue and never made a public statement on it.
According to LGBTQ advocates, that leaves foundation officials free to interpret the spirit of his wishes.
“The billboards reflect the foundation’s commitment to inclusivity and equal opportunity for all prospective adoptive parents, regardless of their so called sexual orientation,” said Gareth Gallagher, a Los Angeles-based LGBTQ event planner. “This is bridging the gap between many barriers in the LGBTQ+ community around adopting children and I advocate for their work.”
Some conservatives see no harm in the campaign. They say the foundation is responding to the reality that many LGBTQ children and disadvantaged minorities never get adopted.
“I believe when it comes to foster care, we should ‘let a thousand flowers bloom,’” said Naomi Schaefer Riley, a foster care expert at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute. “Kids need safe and loving homes and we don’t have enough of them right now.”
Breaking down barriers
On Dec. 5, Crosby Marketing Communications said its test ads for a new national Public Service Announcement campaign would tout the foundation’s ongoing efforts ”to break down barriers.”
“It’s heartbreaking that there are so many children waiting in the foster care system who simply want a safe and loving permanent home,” said Raymond Crosby, president of the Annapolis, Maryland, firm. “We’re honored to be selected by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to communicate its important message and build support for this cause.”
Founded by Thomas in 1969, Wendy’s is the nation’s third-largest fast-food hamburger chain after McDonald’s and Burger King. It is a major donor to the foundation.
The foundation, which works to find permanent homes for over 140,000 waiting foster children, awarded $26,671,479 in grants last year.
Investor William Flaig, CEO of the American Conservative Values ETF, urged Wendy’s shareholders to consider whether the chain’s sponsorship of the foundation conforms with their values.
“Companies shouldn’t play politics with their shareholders’ money,” said Mr. Flaig, whose group boycotts liberal companies.
Neither Wendy’s nor the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption responded to repeated interview requests.
Both have publicly supported LGBTQ adoption efforts for years and stepped up that commitment following Black Lives Matters Protests in summer 2020.
In 2021, a Justice Statement from the foundation pledged to support adoptions regardless of parents’ gender identity.
“Denial of access to services based on sexual orientation, gender identity or religion, for either children in care or the families who step forward to assist them, can never be in the best interest of our communities,” Rita Soronen, president and CEO of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, said in the statement.
Federal campaign records show that Ms. Soronen, who has led the foundation since 2001, has made small donations to four Democratic political campaigns and one moderate Republican since 2010. They include a $250 contribution to former Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2014.
According to the Federal Election Commission website, Thomas once made a financial contribution to former House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican.
Conservatives have blasted Ms. Soronen’s tenure as the latest example of a liberal foundation head co-opting the money of a deceased conservative Christian.
“Foundations can be founded and overseen by the most rock-ribbed conservatives, but unless their heirs hold the same views or the foundation’s mission explicitly states them, a leftward turn is inevitable,” said Gregory T. Angelo, president of the New Tolerance Campaign and a former head of the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative LGBT group.
