THE QUEERTY REPORT

DEBUNKED: Gays, Pro-Choicers Should Feel Free To Order From Domino’s Pizza

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Sometimes a company declares war on the gay community and a boycott is justified. (We’re looking at you, Chick-fil-a.) But sometimes a boycott is called hastily—or goes on so long that the reasons for it are forgotten. At least since the 1990s, we’ve been told to never order from Domino’s Pizza because it donates money to anti-gay and anti-choice groups. It’s become such a truism we can’t even remember when it started.
Well, thanks to the efforts of Queerty reader Steven K., we’ve learned we can once again order ourselves a large MeatZZa Feast and some stuffed cheesy bread. (Don’t judge!)

Steven came across an old Queerty post that listed Domino’s as one of ten companies that hate the Gays. Other sites have similarly painted the company as homophobic. After all, founder Tom Monaghan financed a 2001 ballot initiative to remove sexual orientation from Ypsilanti, Michigan’s, non-discrimination ordinance. And he’s a staunch pro-lifer—having given tons of money to groups like Operation Rescue and the Committee to End State-Funded Abortions in Michigan.

Incensed, Steven reached out to Domino’s to find out what was going on and get himself removed from its mailing list. But Steve got a reply from Domino’s Vice President of Communications, Tim McIntyre, that seems to dispel some of the notions about the pizza purveyor:

Thanks for writing because it gives me the opportunity to make the record clear about some things…

Mr. Monaghan (the founder of the company) is a conservative Catholic, yes. But, he sold Domino’s Pizza in 1998. We went public in 2004 and the stuff written here about David Brandon is completely false…plus, he left the company in 2010. Out of date, factually incorrect.We are an extremely diverse company, with 9,700 stores in 72 countries, owned independently by thousands of individuals. We employ 185,000 people around the world. There is a large number of gay and lesbian employees, franchise owners and executives in our company, including two vice presidents. We recently began providing benefits to all married couples, same-sex or otherwise.

What Mr. Monaghan stands for and does is his business, but he does not represent Domino’s Pizza. He is the founder, yes, but he’s one individual, and he’s been gone a long time. The company has never been “anti-gay” and in fact, we are going to be a sponsor of a gay Pride festival in St. Louis later this summer.

Say what you will about our pizza—that’s up to you. But if you’re going to let your judgment of our company to be based on bogus information, I would encourage you to reconsider.

Thanks for taking the time to write.

Tim

Tim McIntyre
Vice President, Communications
Domino’s Pizza, LLC

We researched McIntyre’s claims and they seem to be accurate. Even Snopes, the legendary myth-debunking site, corroborates.

Now, Domino’s has a ways to go to be considered pro-gay: The company only scored a 35 on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index last year. But so did Archer Daniels Midland—and their corn syrup is in everything. (Dole Foods only scored a 30.)

And, sure, Monaghan still probably makes some money from his remaining links to Domino’s. But when was the last time you investigated the individual shareholders of a company you bought from?

As to whether Domino’s Pizza tastes good—well, as McIntyre says, that’s up to you.

Photos via Domino’s Pizza, Anthjay