The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence Accepted The Baseball Team’s Apology
By Dolores Quintana
This morning, The Los Angeles Dodgers issued a statement and an apology to the LGBTQ group, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The Major League Baseball organization and Los Angeles team decided to disinvite The Sisters on May 17, who were to attend to receive the Community Hero award for their local services to the community, as we reported last week.
The apology and re-invitation were released to the public via the team’s social media pages yesterday and said, “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.
We have asked the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to take their place on the field at our 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night on June 16th. We are pleased to share that they have agreed to receive the gratitude of our collective communities for the lifesaving work that they have done tirelessly for decades.
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 teams also made a commitment to grow from the experience and better work with the LGBTQ+ community.
The Sisters’ response was released this morning on their social media, and it said, “We, the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, are proud to accept the Community Hero Award from the Los Angeles Dodgers for our twenty-seven years of service to the LGBTQIA2S Community.
This morning our Abbess, Sister Dominia, and another Board member, Sister Bearonce Knows, met with the Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten, heads of leading Los Angeles LGBT community organizations, and members of government from West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, and the State of California Legislature.
A full apology and explanation were given to us by the Dodgers staff, which we accept. We believe the apology is sincere because the Dodgers have worked for 10 years with our community, and as well they have asked us to continue an ongoing relationship with them. In the future, if similar pressures from outside our community arise, our two organizations will consult and assist each other in responding, alongside our colleagues at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and others from the LGBTQIA2S community, now more closely tied with the LA Dodgers than ever before.
This affair has been an opportunity for learning with a silver lining. Our group has been strengthened, protected, and uplifted to a position where we may now offer our message of hope and joy to far more people than before. With great love and respect, we thank each person and each organization that have spoken up for us. Thank you, and may your hearts be blessed with pure joy.
May the games be blessed!
May the players be blessed!
May the fans be blessed!
May the beer and hot dogs flow forth in tasty abundance!”
Three major groups reacted immediately to The Dodger’s decision last week, strongly supported the Sisters, and said they would not attend Dodger Pride Night without them. Today, those three groups reversed their decisions.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center responded via its website. Their response said, “Today’s decision by the Dodgers to publicly apologize to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and roll back their exclusion from next month’s Pride Night is a step in the right direction, and we support the Sisters’ vote to accept their much-deserved Community Hero Award.
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. We must continue to stand together as a community in defense of the rights and recognition of LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles and beyond.
The Center is filled with gratitude to our Los Angeles community, who mobilized to support the Sisters, all of which compelled the Dodgers to ultimately do right by LGBTQ+ people everywhere. We are proud to stand with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and will join them at Pride Night to honor their many important contributions to our movement.
The Dodgers’ course correction and the conversations we have had with the organization’s leadership since last week demonstrate the version of allyship we have come to expect from the team over the years. The Center will always strive to hold our corporate partners accountable—which means so much more than waving a rainbow flag.”
LA Pride, the LGBTQ+ group that heads up and organizes the Los Angeles Pride and was a partner with The Dodgers in their Pride event until the disinvitation, also responded via social media. Their statement said, “The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken a good first step towards their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community by renewing their invite to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at next month’s Pride Night.
We fully support the Sisters receiving their much-deserved Community Hero Award and will stand in solidarity with them at Pride Night. They continue to inspire us with their grace. We are always stronger when we stand together.”
The ACLU of Southern California also accepted the olive branch and issued this statement today via social media, “The @LADragnuns have displayed heroic courage in service to the LGBTQ community.
We’re grateful for the @Dodgers‘s apology and re-invitation to the Sisters. In unity, we will join them at Pride Night.
LGBTQ families deserve love, care, and joy. We the people means all of us.”
