LA Dodgers re-invite Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Pride event

The LA Dodgers has backtracked on its decision to uninvite a drag act from its Pride event, after being hit with fierce backlash from the community and allies.

Officials for the Los Angeles baseball team announced last week the team had decided to no longer include the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at its 16 June Pride Night event, after they said including the act had been “the source of some controversy”.

The ‘controversy’ arose after Florida Republican Marco Rubio hit back at the LA Dodgers for including the drag act, saying it was offensive to Christians like himself.

That decision has now been reversed and an apology issued to  the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, after the sport team examined feedback from communities within, and outside, the organisation.

“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 a statement.

The statement continued: “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.”

In their own statement, posted on social media, the drag group said they accept the teams apology and will work closely together going forward.

“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,” a spokesperson for the group said.

“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.”

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a drag troupe which dates back to 1979.

The group uses a mix of religious imagery and camp to raise awareness of social issues.