For over three decades a group dedicated drag queens, known as the The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, have been uplifting patrons of gay bars, collecting donations for AIDS and cancer causes, officiating same-sex marriages, and offering support to homeless queer youth. Because of their works, the Los Angeles Dodgers made a plan of honoring the Los Angeles Sister Chapter with the Community Heroes Award at the 10th annual Pride Night, coming June 16.
However, everything changed on Wednesday when the Dodgers yielded to pressure from conservative Catholic groups and removed the Sisters from the team’s popular Pride Night event setting off a chain reaction that would soon rock gay and straight communities across the nation.
The decision to disinvite the drag nuns stemmed from a call-in campaign led by the conservative advocacy organization CatholicVote.Org.
In response to the organization’s president, Brian Burch, urging his followers to flood the Dodgers with outraged messages, the club decided to revoke their plan of honoring Sister of the Los Angeles Order.
The website CatholicVote.Org accused the Queer Nuns of everything from “blessing” a gathering with a dildo dipped in poppers to filling chalices with yogurt at a funeral to represent swallowing semen.
In an open letter to the baseball commissioner on Tuesday, Burch claimed, “The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are an anti-Catholic hate group which exists to desecrate and degrade the Catholic faith. For a revered, all-American institution like the Dodgers to bring the [Sisters] into the mainstream and honor them is reprehensible.”
Oooh… no, they didn’t!
In response to being disinvited, Sister Unity, a founding member of the Los Angeles Order who was set to be honored at Dodger Stadium, responded by stating, “We are not anti-Catholic. Being anti-Catholic would be anti-people, and that’s not what we do.” According to the Sisters, as well as scholars and followers of the group, they draw inspiration from Catholic nuns and religious sisters of various faiths who serve marginalized individuals due to their sexuality or gender expression.
Well, if the conservatives didn’t want to call on National attention… trying to control Dodger program when it came to the LBGTQ+ community wasn’t the way to do it. Looks like this drama won’t stop the nuns from hosting future “Hunky Jesus” drag shows or what the Catholic group calls “Blatant acts of desecrating Catholicism have been going on for decades.”
Several influential figures swiftly joined the conversation. The American Civil Liberties Union took to Twitter to criticize the Dodgers, announcing that it would withdraw from Pride Night unless the club reversed its decision. L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath and L.A. City Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez, whose district encompasses Dodger Stadium, also condemned the move and pledged to take similar actions.
On Thursday, the Los Angeles LGBT Center delivered an ultimatum, demanding the reinstatement of the Sisters or the cancellation of Pride Night altogether.
On Sunday, May 21, the Dodgers doubled back extending the invitation once again after releasing the following statement:
DODGER STATEMENT ON LGBTQ+ PRIDE NIGHT:
“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families.
We have asked the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th. We are pleased to share that they have agreed to receive the gratitude of our collective communities for the lifesaving work that they have done tirelessly for decades.
In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family.”
The show of support from the Dodgers came as a major surprise to the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and the disinvite shocked the nation, however pink balls will fly once again during Dodgers Pride Night, this time with the whole world watching, and ready to catch them.
