In a display of feckless simp-itude, the Los Angeles Dodgers have caved to the noisy tiny minority by reversing their earlier disinvite of the blasphemous Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence alphabet Mafia group. In a statement issued on May 22, the Dodgers 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.
No, really, they’re apologizing. To this. (Follow the link to photos, assuming you don’t mind vigorously rinsing your eyes afterward with strong disinfectant.)
JFC, there were more than 50 Jesuses competing for the coveted Hunky Jesus title Sunday at the annual Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Easter party, including several ensemble-cast groups with puppets and stage productions.
There was a definite fierceness to Saturday’s “Drag Up! Fight Back!” rally, but Sunday’s annual Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Easter in Dolores Park was more just good old fashioned blasphemy and happy vibes. More than 10,000 people came out in the egg-cellent Easter Sunday weather, and with more than 50 people competing in the Hunky Jesus contest (including three large ensemble groups), it had to have been the biggest Hunky Jesus contest ever. We saw a Poppers Jesus, a Mid-Life Crisis Jesus, and a Balenciaga Jesus. (“I invite you to walk with me on the runway of Christ,” he quipped.)
But they are totally not mocking Catholicism, y’all.
Although there’s only one MLB team left that hasn’t hosted some type of Pride Night (Texas Rangers), the Dodgers organization’s tone-deafness on this issue is astonishing. What people in the team’s heavily Catholic fanbase were upset about was not necessarily that this group would be at the game, but that the group would be honored on the field with the Community Hero Award in a pre-game ceremony. I’m sure the Sisters are much more deserving than groups like Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul, or any of the churches running soup kitchens and food banks. For the record, back in September 2016, the award was given to individuals who were perhaps a touch more deserving.
LA County District Attorney Jackie Lacy will bestow the Dodgers’ Community Hero Award medals upon Sergeant Yvette Ahumada and Senior Investigator Jose Medrano of the District Attorney’s office. Ahumada and Medrano have worked tirelessly to rescue and safeguard juveniles who are being recruited and exploited in the commercial sex trade. They have been involved in more than 60 adult arrests and have been responsible for assisting in the apprehension of more than 17 pimps in the past year. They have contacted and provided assistance to more than 50 child victims. Sheriff McDonnell will bestow the Dodgers’ Community Hero Award upon LA Sheriff’s deputies Chad Vandenberg and Christopher Allende of the Lakewood Station, who were both shot during a DUI checkpoint in Bellflower in June.
As RedState’s Brittany Sheehan has noted in covering the Oakland A’s inept attempt at moving to Las Vegas, irrecoverably ticking off your fan base has consequences. The Dodgers fan base is now strongly Latino, although there’s “a difficult history between the city’s Mexican-American community and the organization due to the manner in which the Chavez Ravine land for Dodger Stadium was acquired by the City of Los Angeles for public housing then later sold to the Dodgers ‘for small consideration.’” Still, awarding a group that openly mocks Catholicism, including Mary, who even among non-believing Latinos is revered and respected — Our Lady of Guadalupe, anyone? — is nothing other than marketplace suicide.
Good job, Dodgers. Outstanding job.
Baseball isn’t the only professional sport in which there’s controversy over “Pride” nights this year. The NHL stirred up an ice skating hornet’s nest this past season when a few players respectfully declined to wear a rainbow-festooned pregame jersey, as we covered here at RedState:
And this is hockey, overwhelmingly the most docile player base in professional sports when it comes to going along to get along.
It’ll be interesting to see if other MLB teams will learn from the Dodgers’ major missteps on this topic.