California Democrats on Monday honored a member of the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” despite backlash over the Los Angel...
California Democrats on Monday honored a member of the anti-Catholic “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” despite backlash over the Los Angeles Dodgers also honoring the anti-Catholic drag group.
The California State Legislature’s LGBTQ Caucus honored Michael Williams, a member of the “Sisters” who goes by “Sister Roma” and uses “she/her” pronouns.
The “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” is an organization of men who dress in drag queen versions of Catholic religious habits and claim to have a “ministry,” according to its website.
Williams received a standing ovation in both chambers of California’s legislature.
Some Republicans walked off the floors in protest.
Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher said he would “not celebrate those who engage in religious bigotry or attempt to co-opt our faith into something it is not.”
“I recognize that the Sisters have done charitable work in the community. But their vulgar mockery of our Christian faith is extremely insulting and disrespectful. We cannot condone this,” Gallagher said.
Republicans in the California Senate previously said they had “profound concerns” about honoring “Sister Roma” and wrote to formally request the Democrats withdraw his invitation to the Senate floor, but to no avail.
“Were this group to denigrate any other faith, we are certain the Senate would not extend this invitation,” the California Senate Republican Caucus wrote in their Thursday letter to the Senate president, Democratic state Senator Toni Atkins.
“While the California State Senate serves as a symbol for many values, it should not be associated with disrespect or hatred towards those with differing religious ideologies,” the Republicans wrote. “The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, through their public disparagement of the Catholic Faith, have displayed a disregard for the principles of tolerance and understanding that should guide our society. Honoring them in the Senate Chambers would be inappropriate and contrary to the values we hold dear.”
Atkins denied the Republicans’ request, saying that “in the end, faith is stronger than any parody could possibly be.”
The caucus said that every year, it invites honorees from around the state to attend a daylong celebration in the state capitol.
Williams — or “Sister Roma” — was nominated by state Senator Scott Wiener, a San Francisco Democrat.
In 2020, Wiener sponsored a law Governor Gavin Newsom signed that says adults who have oral or anal sex with a child ten years younger than them may not have to register as sex offenders, leaving that decision to a judge. The law supposedly addressed discrimination against LGBT people.
“For more than three decades, Sister Roma has been one of the most outspoken and globally recognized members of San Francisco’s Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,” the caucus said in an announcement about its 2023 “Pride Honorees.”
The legislative caucus said Williams has fought “on the front lines” of the war against HIV/AIDS and “dedicated more than half her life to community service, activism and fundraising.”
The Dodgers were criticized when they announced the team’s plan to present a “Community Hero Award” to the Los Angeles chapter of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”
After backlash from Catholic organizations, the Dodgers said they had pulled the group from the list of award recipients for the team’s “Pride Night” celebration before their June 16 home game.
However, when LA Pride backed out of “Pride Night,” the Dodgers re-invited the anti-Catholic drag group and apologized to them.
Members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence go by names like Sister T’aint A Virgin, Sister Risqué of the Sissytine Chapel, and Sister Edith Myflesh. The group also mocks the process of becoming a Catholic nun by having members become a postulant, then a novice, and finally a fully professed “sister” with a black veil. One of the group’s founders originally used old habits used by real Catholic nuns.
“Go forth and sin some more!” is the group’s motto.
Back in 2007, members of the “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” tricked the archbishop of San Francisco into giving them the Eucharist so they could defile it.
On Easter this year, the group put on a “Jesus and Mary-themed striptease” that involved a performer “writhing upside down on a large wooden cross,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. They also had shirtless men compete to be crowned the “hunkiest” Jesus.
“These are just a few examples of the SPI’s vile and diabolical actions which go far beyond parody or satire – they are blasphemous and deeply offensive to Christians everywhere,” CatholicVote, a Catholic nonprofit, wrote in a letter to the Dodgers protesting the drag group’s award.
Last month during the Dodgers controversy, the California LGBTQ Caucus released a statement slamming the team.
“It is truly disappointing the Los Angeles Dodgers have caved to pressure from mostly out-of-state conservative organizations and Florida Senator Marco Rubio to remove the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence from its upcoming LGBTQ+ Pride Night,” the caucus said.
“They are not an anti-Catholic group,” the lawmakers said. “Pride Month is about supporting and uplifting every member of the LGBTQ+ community, not just when it’s easy and not when it’s not controversial. If you can’t support all queer people, don’t pretend to support any of them.”
The caucus added that it stands in solidarity with LA Pride, which had backed out of the Dodgers’ “Pride Night” when the team disinvited the “Sisters.”
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