LA Dodgers apologize for not inviting Drag Charity to their pride night

The Los Angeles Dodgers apologized Monday to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a charitable drag group, after they uninvited its members from a Pride Night event after criticism from conservative groups and Republican politicians.

“After much thoughtful feedback from our various 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 sincere apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Perpetual Indulgence, LGBTQ+ members. community and their friends and family,” the team said in a statement, reinviting the group to the event.

“In the coming weeks, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind us together, and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family,” he added. the team.

The sisters form a well known command of “queer and trans nuns” that was founded in San Francisco in 1979. The group uses “irreverent humor and wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that fetter the human spirit,” according to its website. .

The order was scheduled to receive the Dodgers Community Hero Award at an annual Pride Night on June 16, but the team said last week that some had been “offended by the inclusion of the sisters in our night ” and they rescinded the invitation. The sisters pointed directly to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who claimed that any celebration by the group “intentionally mocks and degrades Christians.”

The Dodgers’ disinvitation had sparked harsh criticism from the queer community and members of the Dodgers organization. The Los Angeles LGBT Center and LA Pride said they would withdraw from the event, and civil rights groups pointed to continued attacks by conservatives about drag events and LGBTQ+ people nationwide.

The group said later Monday that it would participate in Pride Night and would be proud to accept the award, saying it believed the Dodgers’ apology was “sincere” and that the LGBTQ+ community was “now more united with the Los Angeles Dodgers than never”.

“This matter has been an opportunity to learn with a silver lining,” the group said in a statement. “Our group has been strengthened, protected and elevated to a position where we can now offer our message of hope and joy to many more people than ever before.”

“Let the beer and hot dogs flow in tasty abundance!” the Sisters concluded.

Rubio said he was furious with the decision Monday, saying the team “shamefully, (but not surprisingly)…had been intimidated into apologizing.”

“Today our great country is controlled by socio-political ruling elites who not only condone anti-Christian bigotry, but encourage and celebrate it,” he wrote.

Despite the Florida congressman’s claims, the Los Angeles LGBT Center praised local efforts to support the community, saying it was “overflowing with gratitude” to everyone “who rallied to support the Sisters, all of which forced the Dodgers to do the right thing for LGBTQ+ people.” everywhere.”

“The Center will always strive to hold our corporate partners accountable, which means so much more than waving a rainbow flag,” the center said.