LA Pride pulls out of Dodgers Pride Night amid controversy with Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
LA Pride has announced that they will withdraw from the 10th annual Dodgers Pride Night celebration after the team announced they uninvited a controversial group due to public backlash over their satirical representation of Catholicism.
The massive nonprofit organization's decision comes hours after the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence had their invitation rescinded by the Dodgers organization due to noted outrage and criticism, notably from Catholic organizations and even Florida state Senator Marco Rubio.
"As a longstanding partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, we are very disappointed in their decision to rescind their invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to be honored at the 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night," the organization said in a statement released on Twitter. "As a result, and in solidarity with our community, LA Pride will not be participating in this year's Dodgers Pride Night event."
The Dodgers' decision has been denounced on social media, with many quick to note how easily the team crumbled to pressure from groups like the Catholic League.
"Pride is a fight for equality and inclusion for the entire LGBTQ+ community and we're not going to stop now. Let's make this year's Pride celebration louder than ever," the statement said.
"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," said a statement from the Dodgers on Wednesday.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have often been scrutinized by Catholic groups for their parodied performances, while dressed like nuns, that "use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit," according to their website.
"Some errant information presented by persons unfamiliar with our work needs clarification: We are a charity organization and we are human rights activists. Our mission is to uplift our community and all marginalized groups, especially the ones ignored by larger organizations, spiritually oriented or otherwise," said a statement released by the Sisters on their website on Wednesday.
They were among the many local organizations slated to receive a Community Hero Award from the team.
The team was targeted by the Catholic League and Senator Marco Rubio, who wrote a letter to Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred alleging that the group "mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith."
Hours after the Dodgers decided to withdraw their invite, Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath took to Twitter to call out the team, "If they're not invited, I'm not going. Celebrating Pride is about inclusion. Do better."
Horvath is among the many politicians to band together and decry the decision, including Representative Robert Garcia and Assembly member Rick Chavez Zbur.
The City of West Hollywood also issued a statement on Thursday, which noted that they are "excitedly looking forward to the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence participating in the WeHo Pride Parade" and that they "call on the Los Angeles Dodgers to reconsider its decision not to honor" the sisters at their Pride Night celebration.
