Thousands of religious protestors held a ‘prayerful procession’ outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Friday night in response to the baseball team honoring an LGBTQ ‘nun’ group at its Pride Night event.
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The team has been holding Pride Nights for 10 years, but this year’s edition became entangled last month in a high-profile controversy.
Under a barrage of criticism from some conservative Catholics, the team initially rescinded an invitation to satirical LGBTQ+ group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence before backflipping and then re-inviting them to the baseball game.
The demonstrators gathered after a flyer called for a ‘prayerful response to Dodgers’ godless decision to honor blasphemous, Christ-mocking ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.’
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People march outside Dodger Stadium after a prayer service on Friday in Los Angeles
Pride Night signage is displayed before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium
Devout baseball fans might view their teams’ performance as heavenly or hellish, depending on the quality of play but it is the Los Angeles Dodgers’ handling of their annual Pride Night, not the team’s record, that has provoked emotional reactions from religious people
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Religious protestors held a ‘prayerful procession’ outside Dodger Stadium
The performers – mostly men who dress flamboyantly as nuns – are active in protests and charitable programs.
The move to uninvite them was welcomed by LGBTQ+ allies, including some Catholic nuns but it infuriated many conservative Catholics, even at the highest levels of the U.S. hierarchy.
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On Monday, the team was lambasted in a statement from Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, and the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Services.
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They asked Catholics to pray on Friday ‘as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today.’
‘A professional baseball team has shockingly chosen to honor a group whose lewdness and vulgarity is mocking our Lord, His Mother, and consecrated women cannot be overstated,’ the archbishops said. ‘This is not just offensive and painful to Christians everywhere; it is blasphemy.’
On Friday, Phoenix-based Catholics for Catholics organized the ‘prayerful procession’ in a parking lot outside Dodger Stadium.
Protesters wore red in honor of the sacred heart and and held signs as they gathered before the Dodgers hosted the San Francisco Giants.
The group later walked from the parking lot to the intersection outside the stadium’s main gate, spread out across the entrance to the ballpark under the watchful eyes of police.
Catholics for Catholics had urged participants not to bring children because ‘we do anticipate hostility from anti-Christian protestors.’
The gathering attracted a large Los Angeles Police Department presence, with officers standing around watching as traffic approaching stadium backed up. Three helicopters flew overhead.
The rally, organized by Catholics for Catholics, featured music, speakers, and prayer, and took place in a corner of the stadium parking lot
In a flyer advertising the event, demonstrators were urged to join ‘in prayerful response to Dodgers’ godless decision to honor blasphemous, Christ-mocking ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.’
Controversy abounded earlier in May when The Dodgers rescinded their initial invitation to honor the Sisters after receiving backlash from conservatives and Catholic organizations who opposed the group’s use of Catholic imagery
People march outside Dodger Stadium after a prayer service on Friday evening
One woman held a blue sign invoking the name of the late Dodgers Hall of Fame broadcaster Vin Scully, a devout Catholic, that read, ‘Vin Is Sad.’ In her other hand, a white sign said, ‘Uphold Dodger Code of Conduct. No Mocking Religion.’
In a brief ceremony held on the field with few fans yet in their seats, the Dodgers gave a Community Hero Award to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The public-address announcer said the group supports meal programs in the Los Angeles area and cited ‘their outstanding service to the LBGTQ+ community.’
The sparse crowd cheered as the PA announcer introduced Sister Unity and Sister Dominia – two men dressed flamboyantly as nuns.
Although official Catholic teaching opposes same-sex marriage and same-sex sexual activity, there are many Catholics who want the church to be more inclusive toward LGBTQ+ people. Among them are nuns in the U.S. who have ministered empathetically to LGBTQ+ Catholics, and took note when the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence made news last month.
One of them, Sister Jeannine Gramick, has ministered to LGBTQ+ Catholics for more than 50 years and is a co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which advocates on their behalf.
Pride flags are seen on sale at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit
Several hours before the first pitch was thrown at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pride Night, a large group of protesters gathered outside the stadium gates
The Sisters are being honored for their activism on behalf of LGBTQ+ rights and their support for those living with HIV and other causes
A man, who declined to give his name, prays outside Dodger Stadium on Friday
She publicly shared a letter she wrote to the Dodgers, welcoming their re-invitation to the drag group and saying its members deserved recognition for their charity work.
‘While I am uncomfortable with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence using the nuns´ old garb to draw attention to bigotry, whether Catholic or not, there is a hierarchy of values in this situation,’ Gramick wrote.
‘I believe that any group that serves the community, especially those who are less fortunate or on the margins of society, should be honored.’
However, Sister Luisa Derouen, renowned for her outreach to transgender Catholics said she was ‘deeply offended’ by the Dodgers´ decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
‘I realize they do a lot of good for many people with their philanthropic work, and I thank them for that,’ she told the AP via email. ‘But where my passion about this most comes from is with regard to my religious life.’
‘I have spent about 30 years passionately trying to help people understand and respect the lives of gay, lesbian and trans people,’ she added. ‘Women religious are their best allies in the Catholic Church – we don´t deserve for our lives to be caricatured in this kind of demeaning way.’
Catholics for Catholics announced its intention to hold a four-hour ‘prayerful procession’ in the hours leading up to Friday’s game.
Social media videos posted several hours before the start of the game showed what appeared to be thousands of people outside Dodger Stadium with flags and signs
A little less than two hours before the start of the game, protesters began lining the sidewalks near the stadium and appeared to block one of the entrances to Dodger Stadium
Protesters hold signs at a Catholics for Catholics event in response to the Dodgers’ Pride Night event including the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium
‘Why can´t they do all their wonderful work without disrespecting our lives, when we have done so much to help others respect their lives?’
Robert Barron, a Catholic bishop in southern Minnesota and formerly an auxiliary bishop in Los Angeles, told his 240,000 followers on Twitter that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence ‘can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group.’
‘I´m a big baseball fan. I´ve even thrown out the first pitch at a Dodgers game,’ Barron tweeted. ‘But I´d encourage my friends in LA to boycott the Dodgers. Let´s not just pray, but make our voices heard in defense of our Catholic faith.’
Criticism wasn´t confined to Catholic ranks. The Rev. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, told listeners of his syndicated radio show that the Dodgers ‘completely capitulated.’
‘The company is falling all over itself with what one author called years ago, ‘The Art of the Public Grovel,´’ Mohler said.
Pride Night is not a new tradition at Dodgers Stadium, but in the past it has not drawn this degree of controversy
San Francisco Giants warm up in the outfield on Pride Night prior the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium
A Catholic protest took place near the stadium on Friday night
The Dodgers have been holding Pride Nights for 10 years, but this year’s edition on Friday night became entangled in a high-profile controversy
The Dodgers´ reversal was welcomed by LGBTQ+ allies, including some Catholic nuns. But it infuriated many conservative Catholics, even at the highest levels of the U.S. hierarchy
A counter-protester holds a sign outside a Catholics for Catholics event in response to the Dodgers’ Pride Night event
Although official Catholic teaching opposes same-sex marriage and same-sex sexual activity, there are many Catholics who want the church to be more inclusive toward LGBTQ+ people
MLB pitchers Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and Trevor Williams of the Washington Nationals criticized the Dodgers for re-inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, saying they resented the group´s mockery of Catholicism. Williams, on Twitter, encouraged his fellow Catholics ‘to reconsider their support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur.’
But each pitcher said he had no objection to the broader tradition of Pride Nights.
‘This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that,’ said Kershaw. ‘This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion. That I don´t agree with.’
Some conservative religious leaders said they oppose the entire concept of Pride Nights.
‘MLB teams have no business sponsoring highly divisive events like Pride Nights and instead need to concentrate on playing baseball,’ said prominent megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress via email.
His church, First Baptist Dallas, is about 20 miles from the home field of the Texas Rangers, the only MLB team which isn´t hosting a Pride Night this season.
‘All `Pride´ events are attempts to celebrate what God has condemned,’ Jeffress wrote. ‘Christians are right to boycott companies and organizations like MLB teams that try to cram their godless and offensive agendas down the throats of Americans.’
Similar condemnation of Pride Nights came from Brent Leatherwood, head of the public policy wing of the Southern Baptist Convention – the country’s largest evangelical denomination.
‘These displays continue to confirm just how far removed from biological and sexual reality our culture is right now,’ said Leatherwood, reiterating the SBC´s rejection of same-marriages and sexual relationships.
People listen to a message during a prayer service outside Dodger Stadium, on Friday
The Los Angeles Police Department mounted unit stage at the front gate in anticipation of protesters on Pride Night
Protesters cross Sunset Blvd as they gather at the main entrance on Pride Night prior to the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium
The Los Angeles Police Department mounted unit on patrol ahead of the arrival of protesters
In contrast, the Rev. Alex Santora – who oversees an LGBTQ-welcoming parish in Hoboken, New Jersey – says Pride Nights are useful in combating prejudice.
‘Pride Nights hosted by sports teams and Pride displays mounted by businesses acknowledge that accepting the diversity of sexual and gender orientations is normal in society,’ he said. ‘It sends a valuable message to children and teenagers that acceptance is important and contributes to good mental health. ‘
The Dodgers’ Pride Night saga followed LGBTQ+-related difficulties for some other big-name businesses.
Bud Light partnered with a transgender influencer, then tried to walk back its support amid a backlash. Similarly, Target’s support for the LGBTQ+ community has provoked some hostile, homophobic criticisms, as well as calls from LGBTQ+ activists not to cave to the pressure.
A spokesperson for the country´ largest LGBTQ+-rights organization, Laurel Powell of the Human Rights Campaign, said the proliferation of Pride Nights – and similar gestures in other economic sectors – is encouraging.
‘They´re an important signal to the LGBTQ community that we are valued by these organizations, that our patronage, our faces in the stands, are welcome,’ she said. ‘It´s also a signal to other folks about where their values are.’
