Dodgers reverse course and re-invite group to Pride Night
The news
The Los Angeles Dodgers, who faced massive backlash over last week’s choice not to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulggence to their annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night, reversed course on Monday. The team apologized to the group and issued a new invitation to attend the festivities, which are scheduled for a June 16 home game. The sisters accepted the invitation.
The sisters, who describe themselves as “a premier order of queer and trans nuns,” use humor and religious imagery to draw attention to sexual intolerance. The Dodgers will present the group with a Community Hero Award – the same award they previously lined up to receive.
“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 in its statement.
Why it matters
The Dodgers, who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947 by drafting Jackie Robinson, have long considered themselves champions of inclusion, and the annual Pride Night is a high-priority event for the team. The decision not to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which came after complaints from politicians and religious groups, prompted a rapid backlash. LA Pride, the organization that runs the LA Pride Parade & Festival, pulled out of the Dodgers event in protest, as did groups such as the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.
The LGBT center had even insisted that the Dodgers cancel the event if the sisters were not allowed to attend.
All of this came less than a year after the team took a big step in acknowledging its past failures by inviting the family of Glenn Burke, the first major leaguer to come out as gay, last year for Pride Night. Burke, who made little effort to hide his sexuality, was traded to the Oakland Athletics after declining the team’s offer of $75,000 for his honeymoon on the condition that he marry a woman. Once a promising prospect, his career quickly faded and he died of AIDS complications in 1995.
What’s next
The LGBT Center immediately announced that it would join the Sisters on Pride Night, fulfilling its promise to return to the event if the team changed its mind. The group thanked members of the Los Angeles community who protested, saying much could be learned from how the situation played out.
“Last week’s debacle underscores the dangerous impact of political tactics by those seeking to fuel anti-LGBTQ bias at a time when our rights are under attack,” the group said in a statement. “We must stand together as a community in defense of the rights and recognition of LGBTQ+ people in Los Angeles and beyond.”
LA Pride and the ACLU have yet to announce whether they will attend.
In the team’s statement announcing that it had reinvited the Sisters, the Dodgers acknowledged that there was more work to be done to repair their relationship with the community.
“In the coming weeks, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen bonds, and use our platform to support all of our fans who are part of the diversity of the Dodgers family. the statement said. statement said.
Scott Miller reporting contributed.