Baseball team the LA Dodgers are facing a backlash after they invited and then rescinded an invitation for long-standing queer group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be part of their annual Pride Night.
June is Pride month in the USA and on June 16th the baseball team will mark the occasion with a special event. Initially the non-profit group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were invited to be part of the proceedings, but after Catholic based organisations and Republican politicians complained.
Marco Rubio complained to the Baseball club saying the charity group were “lewd” and “blasphemous”. He welcomed the decision to cancel the group from the Pride evening saying it was a win “common sense”.
“Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees.” the club said in a statement.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence began in San Francisco in 1979 and run charity events to assist the LGBTIQA+ communities as well as using performance to mock politicians and churches. The group use religious imagery and satire to draw attention to discrimination and intolerance. Their members often dress as nuns and take on comical names.
Abbeys of the group are found around the globe including here in Western Australia, which is the home of the Abbey of the Black Swan, headed by Mother Greta Amyletta of the Holy Vapors.
“I was shocked to be completely honest,” Sister Bearonce Knows of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence told ABC News in the USA. “I was shocked that the Dodgers caved so quickly.”
“We’re not a religious organization. We’re also not an anti-religious organization. What we are ‘anti-‘ is people that use their religion as a weapon against our community, in particular against our trans community.” Sister Bearonce Knows said.
In their official statement the Sisters shared their shock at being recognised for their charity work, and then finding themselves being condemned for it.
“We, the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, were recently awarded a Community Hero Award by the Los Angeles Dodgers for our twenty-seven years of service to the LGBTQIA community.” the Sisters said.
“We are sad to learn the Los Angeles Dodgers have chosen to rescind their award, succumbing to pressure from people outside the state of California and outside of our community. We are disappointed they have chosen to un-ally themselves with us in our ongoing service to the public, many of whom enjoy the Dodgers heroic efforts in sports.”
The decision to take back the award offered to the sisters was announced on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).
The decision has drawn scorn from the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
“Our community is being used as political pawns in a way that I don’t remember in my lifetime,” said CEO Joe Hollendoner. “This is why we need the Dodgers to not bend in the slightest, and in fact be strong in their allyship to us because it’s not just about this once instance.”
The Center will now be skipping the event and has called on the baseball team to cancel it entirely. La Pride have followed suite and will also no longer be attending.
“As a longstanding partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, we are very disappointed in their decision to rescind their invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be honored at the 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night. As a result, and in solidarity with our community, LA Pride will not be participating in this year’s Dodgers Pride Night event.” the group said in a statement.
In the wake of their announcement the baseball club have been induced with comments on Twitter both praising them and condemning them for the decision.
OIP Staff
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