Nevertheless, following subsequent backlash from LGBTQ+ activists, the Dodgers reversed the decision on Monday (May 22), issuing a statement offering their “sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families.”
“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,” the statement read. “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.”
The statement continued, “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 a statement of their own, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence accepted the apology offered by the MLB team.
Noting that leaders from the activist organization met with Dodgers CEO and president Stan Kasten, as well as local LGBTQ+ organizers and government officials, the statement said that a “full apology and explanation was given to us by the Dodgers staff which we accept.”
“This affair has been an opportunity for learning with a silver lining,” the statement went on to say. “Our group has been strengthened, protected and uplifted to a position where we may now offer our message of hope and joy to far more people than before. With great love and respect, we thank each person and each organization that have spoken up for us.”
Somewhat predictably, the announcement that the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence would indeed be joining the Dodgers for Pride Night to receive the Community Hero Award was met with yet another wave of criticism.
Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon called the team’s actions “disgraceful.” Southern Baptist scholar and ethicist Andrew T. Walker accused the team of being “traitors to decency.”
Others criticized the team for twice inviting a group that they feel shows flagrant disrespect for deeply held religious convictions in the name of inclusion.
Notably, this is not the only controversy surrounding the incorporation of religious imagery into LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations this year.
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Earlier this week, retail giant Target came under fire for its 2023 Pride Collection, which features satanic imagery, including one shirt referred to in its product description as “Pride Adult Drag Queen ‘Bible Girl 666’ Short Sleeve T-Shirt.” Following online protest and mounting calls for a boycott, Target updated the product description of the shirt to remove the religious reference, alongside other changes to the campaign, in an effort to curb criticism.
