Count Dodgers legend and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw among those upset about the team’s bungling of their Pride Night.
Kershaw recently announced and publicized that the team would be re-launching their “Christian Faith and Family Day” after the team invited, then un-invited, then re-invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a queer and trans group that uses religious imagery and mocks Catholicism to call attention to sexual intolerance.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Kershaw admitted that the timing of the announcement was, in some part, related to the Pride Night controversy.
“I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up,” Kershaw said. “Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well.
“Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”
The Dodgers made headlines when they invited the group – full of “nuns” with names such as Sister T’aint A Virgin and Sister Porn Again – to their 10th annual Pride Night, scheduled for June 16.
Almost immediately after the announcement, the team faced backlash from conservative politicians and religious groups, who decried the Sisters for their use of traditional Catholic symbols in their satire.
Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, called them a “blatantly perverted, sexual and disgusting anti-Catholic hate group,” while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio sent a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred asking “why you are allowing an MLB team to honor a group that mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith.”
The backlash was so strong that the Dodgers eventually rescinded their invite, releasing a statement to social media.
“We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular — The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — in this year’s Pride Night has been the source of some controversy,” the statement read. “Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits that we have seen over the years of Pride Night, we are deciding to remove them from this year’s group of honorees.”
Then came the backlash to the backlash.
A number of local LGBTQ+ groups, including LA Pride, said they would refuse to participate in the event after the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were axed.
So, the Dodgers apologized for the apology, releasing yet another statement to social media and re-inviting the Sisters.
“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 second statement read.
“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 perhaps the response to the backlash to the backlash to the backlash, Kershaw announced the relaunch of Christian Faith and Family Day last Friday, earlier than he had originally planned.
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” Kershaw said on Monday. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”
