The Los Angeles Dodgers apologized to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and reinvited them to next month’s Pride Night at Dodger Stadium, the team announced Monday, a swift reversal of their decision to disinvite the LGBTQ+ advocacy group after criticism from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and the Catholic League.
“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the team said.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023
Last week, the Dodgers issued a similar missive in which they said they would not honor the group as planned because of “the strong feelings of those who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion” that might distract from “the great benefits” of Pride Night.
Rubio and Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League, had written public letters to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred expressing their displeasure. Both argued that including the sisters, who dress in brightly colored habits and call themselves “a leading edge Order of queer and trans nuns,” meant the Dodgers were encouraging hate speech and anti-Catholicism.
But the Dodgers’ decision to exclude the sisters inspired backlash on an entirely different scale. Several longtime partners of the Dodgers, including the Los Angeles LGBT Center and LA Pride, announced they would not participate in Pride Night. The mayor of Anaheim tweeted her disappointment and invited the sisters to Pride Night at Angel Stadium.
On Monday, the Dodgers reversed course.
“In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family,” the statement concluded.
And after that, the Los Angeles LGBT Center said it would again take part in the Dodgers’ Pride Night.
“Last week’s debacle underscores the dangerous impact of political tactics by those who seek to stoke the flames of anti-LGBTQ bias at a time when our rights are under attack,” CEO Joe Hollendoner said in a statement. “We must continue to stand together as a community in defense of the rights and recognition of LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles and beyond.”
MLB declined to comment. Rubio’s office and the Catholic League did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were founded in San Francisco in 1979 as an LGBTQ+ advocacy and fundraising group. They have since opened chapters across the country and include straight, gay and nonbinary members who dress in brightly colored habits and cloaks, paint their faces and, as the Los Angeles chapter’s website puts it, “make people happy, stamp out guilt brought on by a judgmental society and help various organizations and charities.”