Thousands marched outside of Dodgers Stadium last Friday in protest of the baseball team honoring a controversial group of female impersonators.
As reported by The Dallas Express, the franchise’s decision to include the LA branch of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” at its 10th annual Pride Night led to a considerable outcry from the Catholic community.
The drag group describes itself as “an Order of 30th Century Nuns dedicated to the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt. Our ministry is one of public manifestation and habitual perpetration.”
“More simply put: we make people happy, stamp out guilt brought on by a judgmental society and help various organizations and charities,” the group claims.
As The Dallas Express reported, the group’s DFW chapter was honored last week by the City of Dallas for “Outstanding Leadership in Arts and Culture” at the 2023 Pride in Excellence Awards.
The City described the organization “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.”
Many of the group’s events include direct allusions to the Catholic faith and tradition, leading Catholic League president Bill Donohue to call the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence an “obscene anti-Catholic group” consisting of “homosexual bigots … known for simulating sodomy while dressed as nuns.”
Responding to the calls to boycott the Dodgers for inviting them, the LA Sisters added, “We warmly invite every Dodger Blue loving Angeleno fan to join us in cheering on our home town team as they trounce the Giants on June 16.”
When game day came, however, the protesters outside the stadium dwarfed the number of people attending the pre-game honoring ceremony. The game itself was similarly well-attended relative to the sparsely populated Pride ceremony.
Dodgers fans saw their home team demolished by the San Francisco Giants in a 15-0 blowout loss — the worst showing by the team in 125 years. Even after the protest, the Dodgers failed to improve and lost the entire series to the Giants.
Prior to the game, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez celebrated Mass and offered a homily condemning the Dodgers’ actions.
“The Catholic religion is a religion of love. We believe that God is love, that he has opened his heart to reveal himself to us in Jesus Christ,” Gomez said. “This is why so many of us are offended by the decision to honor a group that insults Jesus and mocks Catholic believers.”
“Religious freedom and the respect for the beliefs of others are hallmarks of our nation. When God is insulted, when the beliefs of any of our neighbors are ridiculed, it diminishes all of us,” the archbishop added.
The Dodgers’ ownership group includes Bobby Patton Jr., a Fort Worth business investor with oil, real estate, and ranching holdings. Patton received a law degree from St. Mary’s University, a Catholic institution.
The Dallas Express’ calls to Patton’s office and requests for comment directed to Patton via the Dodgers organization were left unanswered.