The Dallas-Fort Worth branch of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, self-described as “a leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns,” was among those acknowledged at the City’s 2023 Pride in Excellence Awards reception last week.
Intending to recognize “LGBTQ+ leaders in Dallas in the fields of business, civic engagement, public service, arts & culture and philanthropy,” the event was held in the atrium of City Hall on June 14.
Hosted by the mayor and City Council, the awards reception included “special words” from Council Members Omar Narvaez, Carolyn King Arnold, and Chad West. Other participants included Dallas Police Department’s LGBTQ Liaison and the City’s LGBTQ+ Employee Resource Group.
The DFW Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence received the Outstanding Leadership in Arts and Culture Award.
The group was described on the City’s website “as a modern, communal order of 21st century nuns dedicated to community service, fund raising, outreach, advocacy, education for safer sex awareness, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.”
“The organizations [sic] believes all people have a right to express their unique joy and beauty and uses humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit,” the description continued.
“The DFW Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence consist with [sic] over 20 active nuns devoted to raising money for community service, ministry to those in need, and promoting human rights, diversity, and spiritual enlightenment,” the description concluded.
The organization of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence began in 1979 with the founding of the San Francisco Motherhouse. In 2010, the “Abbey of The Lone Star” was created.
Mimicking much of the language of Catholicism, the DFW Sisters include classifications of “novices,” “postulants,” “saints,” “archangels,” and “fully professed.” All of the members are biological males who engage in female impersonation, dressing in drag.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have drawn criticism nationally after the Los Angeles Dodgers honored a local branch at the franchise’s Pride Night, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The decision was condemned by members of the Catholic community. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, said, “The Catholic League has been the leading critic of this bigoted organization for many decades. … These homosexual bigots are known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns. … Just last month, they held an event mocking our Blessed Mother and Jesus on Easter Sunday.”
After initially deciding not to honor the LA Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence due to the backlash, the Dodgers reversed their position and reinvited the group to the Pride Night scheduled for Friday.
Female impersonation, commonly referred to as drag, has been criticized for allegedly being degrading to women.
The pseudonymous essayist ‘Dr Em,’ for instance, argued in The Critic in 2022, “Drag at its core is misogynistic; it is men portraying women as sexually objectified caricatures. Drag performers frequently reduce women to hyper sexualised, big breasted, big haired bimbos.”
“These men build their careers off of the tools of female oppression — gender stereotypes and sexual objectification — and re-entrench them in performances where they are portrayed as just a laugh and a lark,” Dr Em continued.
However, supporters defend female impersonation as a type of art.
Rori Porter, a supporter of drag, has blamed opponents for sexualizing the practice, claiming in a 2022 blog post, “Drag is as varied as any other art form, and the vast majority of it isn’t sexualized — particularly when the target audience isn’t adults. … The drag we share with children is exclusively wholesome.”