On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers were forced to remove a sacrilegious LGBT organization from their annual “Pride Night” celebration.
The Dodgers apologized — sort of — in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
“In the spirit of unity, the Los Angeles Dodgers are proud to host our 10th annual LGBTQ Pride Night on June 16th. This event has become a meaningful tradition, highlighting not only the diversity and resilience within our fanbase, but also the impactful work of extraordinary community groups,” the team wrote.
Then, the LGBT snag: “This year, as part of a full night of programming, we invited a number of groups to join us. We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — in this year’s Pride Night has been the source of some controversy,” the Dodgers explained.
“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 team said in its non-apology.
Who exactly are the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence? They describe themselves as “a leading edge Order of queer and trans nuns who believe all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty.”
In reality, they are what you’re probably imagining — men who dress as hypersexualied female nuns.
In a blog post, Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, gave his opinion of the group.
“These homosexual bigots are known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns. They like to feature a ‘Condom Savior Mass,’ one that describes how the ‘Latex Host is the flesh for the life of the world.’ The ‘Sisters’ go by names such as ‘Sister Homo Fellatio’ and ‘Sister Joyous Reserectum.’ Just last month, they held an event mocking Our Blessed Mother and Jesus on Easter Sunday,” Donohue explained.
Donohue exhorted Dodger fans to not believe “the lie that the ‘Sisters’ mean no harm. And don’t believe the lie, floated by Erik Braverman, a communications spokesman for the Dodgers, that this event is all about ‘diversity and inclusion.'”
For their part, the “Sisters” believe they are being discriminated against. In a statement, they insisted that their “mission is real” and insist that children are safer around drag queens than they are around actual clergy members.
“The Sisters are not anti-Catholic, but an organization based on love acceptance and celebrating human diversity,” the group claimed. “The LGBTQQ++ communities are consistently targeted by the right, because it’s easier to foment fear of the unfamiliar than to take a hard look at very real threats ranging from gun violence to global warming.”
Upon hearing of the Dodger’s reversal, Donohue gave thanks to the organization and to Major League Baseball for addressing the situation.
“We … want to thank Commissioner Manfred, and the Dodgers, for doing the right thing,” Donohue exclaimed. “Justice was done in the end. There is no room for anti-Catholic bigotry in any gay or trans celebratory event.”
While the Dodgers eventually removed an overtly sacrilegious organization from “Pride Night,” the problem is that a “Pride Night” exists in the first place.
While LGBT culture spreads — from beer cans, to Hollywood films, to professional baseball — slowly invades every portion of our society, we must be content with the smallest of victories like the Los Angeles baseball team backing off in their inclusion of tawdry, sacrilegious drag performers and certain MLB players refusing to wear LGBT “Pride uniforms.”
It would be a great day if, for instance, MLB simply stopped kowtowing to the demands of fringe groups and concentrated on the game itself. Those of us who have been fans for decades don’t remember pre-game celebrations of drag queens — we remember the action on the field. It’s something baseball should remember before they go the way of Bud Lite.
