L.A. Dodgers pull Pride night invite for prominent LGBTQ group, prompting backlash
Nick Logan | CBC News | Posted: May 18, 2023 6:49 PM | Last Updated: May 19, 2023
Major League Baseball team faced pressure from Catholic groups, Republican senator to take away award
The Los Angeles Dodgers say they want to "highlight the diversity and resilience" of its LGBTQ fans at the baseball team's upcoming Pride Night, even though they disinvited a beloved group known for its fundraising work and decades-long support for the LGBTQ community.
After outcry from Catholic groups and some Republicans, the Major League Baseball team backed away from its plan to honour the local chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a network of volunteers known for carrying out charity work and activism while dressed in eccentric drag as nuns.
On Wednesday — which was also the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia — the Dodgers announced on Twitter they had rescinded their invite for the group to receive a Community Hero Award during the June 16 event "in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night."
The Dodgers' move follows a season of controversy in major league hockey, which saw a number of NHL teams either cancel plans for players to wear rainbow Pride jerseys during Pride Night warm ups or allowing players to sit out the events based on religious beliefs or perceived concerns from some Russian players about running afoul of anti-LGBTQ laws in their home country.
The Dodgers' decision to back away from honouring the group's work is also happening as legislatures across the U.S. enact laws affecting the rights of LGBTQ and gender-diverse people, including access to gender-affirming care for transgender people, restrictions on drag performances and limiting LGBTQ-inclusive materials in schools.
The Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence said they were saddened by the announcement.
"We are disappointed they have chosen to un-ally themselves with us in our ongoing service to the public," the group said on its website.
Dodgers strike out with LGBTQ groups
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence formed in San Francisco in 1979. The group has grown to include chapters across the U.S. and around the world, including in Canada.
Often referred to as "drag nuns," the Sisters have been stalwarts in LGBTQ communities, promoting human rights, challenging sexual intolerance, and raising money for various causes including to support people living with HIV/AIDS.
Two weeks ago, the Dodgers hailed the L.A. chapter's work in their Pride Night news release, saying the organization would be honoured at the event by the team and its owners, including tennis legend Billie Jean King and her spouse, Ilana Kloss, who are among the team's minority owners.
The baseball team's 10th annual event was to be held in partnership with the organizers of LA Pride, but that group now says it won't be taking part.
In a statement to CBC News on Thursday evening, LA Pride expressed disappointment that the Sisters' invitation had been rescinded and said it would not participate in "solidarity with our community."
"Pride is a fight for equality and inclusion for the entire LGBTQ+ community and we're not going to stop now," the statement read.
LA Pride is organized by the Christopher Street West Foundation. The Dodgers had also planned to recognize the foundation's board president, Gerald Garth, during Pride Night.
Other LGBTQ organizations are fiercely condemning the team.
"At a moment in time when drag performers are under attack across the country — including in state legislatures and in some cases needing armed escorts to protect them from far-right extremists — the Dodgers' actions are disappointing and let down thousands of LGBTQ+ fans that have supported them throughout the years," Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a statement.
"Let me be clear. This is NOT inclusion. LGBTQ rights and inclusion are rooted in protest and education. If you claim to stand for queer rights and joy yet fear controversy, get out of the way for others to do it right," read a tweet from Tony Morrison, the Senior Director of Communications for GLAAD, a leading LGBTQ rights organization in the U.S.
Well-known drag performers have also chimed in.
"The Dodgers really made the wrong move by caving to the bigots," RuPaul's Drag Race star BenDeLaCreme said in an Instagram post.
"The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are community leaders and activists and were responsible for helping to save lives and care for the dying at the height of the AIDS Crisis," read the post, which included a call to donate money to the group.
Catholic group declares 'victory'
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights declared "victory," with its president, Bill Donohue, celebrating the pressure his organization's followers put on the baseball team. He had previously accused the Dodgers of "rewarding anti-Catholicism."
"Justice was done in the end. There is no room for anti-Catholic bigotry in any gay or trans celebratory event," Donahue said on the group's website.
Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who voted against codifying same-sex marriage earlier this year and introduced a bill to reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military, was among the leading voices criticizing the Dodgers' intention to celebrate the Sisters, in a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred earlier this week.
"The 'sisters' are men who dress in lewd imitation of Roman Catholic nuns. The group's motto, 'go and sin some more,' is a perversion of Jesus's command to 'go, and sin no more,' " he wrote.
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The Sisters say their membership includes all genders, religions and romantic affiliations and is committed to "serving our people just as nuns of other cultures serve theirs."
In response to the Dodgers' announcement and the criticism, the Sisters have vowed to soldier on with their work in the LGBTQ community.
"If being true to oneself with love, joy and pride is a sin, then we … will do what we always do. We will go out and sin some more," the group said.