After inviting Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to their annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night event next month and withdrawing their invitation, the Los Angeles Dodgers backed out again Monday, both apologizing and sending out a new invite to the drag group.
“After so 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 are keen to propose. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” the Major League Baseball team said in a statement on Twitter. We offer our most sincere apologies to members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and family.”
The team said it asked the Sisters, who proclaimed themselves to be “a leading sect of queer and trans nuns,” to “take their place on the field” for the Pride Night, and the group agreed.
“In the coming weeks, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen our bonds, and use our platform to support all our diverse fans.” The Dodgers family.”
With their brightly colored habits and painted faces, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is an LGBTQ+ advocacy and fundraising nonprofit. Founded in San Francisco in 1979, the group became known for serving AIDS patients in the following years and has since expanded nationwide.
At Dodgers’ Pride Night on June 16, members of the Los Angeles chapter will receive the Community Hero Award at a ceremony prior to that night’s game with the San Francisco Giants.
The nuns said they were “proud” to accept the award on Monday. In a statement shared by Order member Sister Unity, the group said they spoke to Dodgers chairman and CEO Stan Kasten hours ago. Several local and state government officials were also present at the meeting, along with several local LGBTQ+ community leaders, according to the group.
“A full apology and explanation was given to us by the Dodgers staff, which we accepted,” they said. “We believe the apology is sincere because the Dodgers have been working with our community for 10 years and have asked us to maintain an ongoing relationship with them.”
The Dodgers initially canceled their invitation to the Sisters after backlash from several high-profile conservative figures and groups. In a letter to MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) accused Dodgers of “rewarding hate speech” by including Nuns whom he accused of “anti-Catholicism”.
“‘Sisters’ are men who impersonate Roman Catholic nuns,” Rubio said. “The group’s slogan of ‘go and sin some more’ is a perversion of Jesus’ command to ‘go and sin no more’.”
Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic Union, who has long been a fierce critic of both the Sisters and the LGBTQ+ community, was also vocally outraged. In a statement last week, he accused Dodgers of “breaking bread with the most despicable elements in American society today.”
“… Do not believe the lie that ‘nuns’ do no harm,” he warned.
The Dodgers announced last Wednesday that it had turned the Sisters down, citing “strong feelings from people who were offended” by them.
talk to Washington post Over the weekend, Sister Unity denied that the group was trying to mock Catholics or promote anti-religious views. The nuns’ gaze and rhetoric were part of a satirical strategy to expose bigotry and draw attention to the group’s goals, she said.
“Gay humor is often iconoclastic,” he explained. But we never said we were against the Catholic Church. We are not.”
Further backlash came after the Dodgers’ decision to withdraw the Sisters’ invitation, with several other guests announcing that they would withdraw from Pride Night in protest. The Los Angeles LGBT Center said it was “deeply disappointed” by the team.[buckled] to pressure from non-state, right-wing fundamentalists.
“We urge the Dodgers to reconsider their decisions, honor the Sisters and bring the true spirit of Pride back to Dodgers Stadium,” said Jeff Hollendoner, CEO of the organization.
a saturday chirpAnaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken invited the Sisters to the Pride Night at Angel Stadium with the hashtag “#CityofKindness”.
The nuns noted on Monday that the discussion was “an opportunity to learn with a silver lining”, adding that the “relationship” raises the profile of the group and allows it to “spread the message of hope and joy to much more people.” more people than before.”
“Blessed be the games!” said the group. “Blessed be the players! Fans are blessed! Let the beer and hot dogs flow in delicious abundance!