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Catholics Continue to Speak Out Against the LA Dodgers Honoring Anti-Catholic Drag Queens

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  June 16, 2023 4:45 PM

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Dodgers will be honoring a local chapter of the anti-Catholic group known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with the "Community Hero Award" at their Pride event. The event in happens to take place on the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and, in the Catholic Church, the month of June represents devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Among those most vocal in speaking out against the Dodgers' decision have included Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and CatholicVote.

Rubio has been tweeting and raising awareness since last month and following along as the Dodgers, very briefly, rescinded the invitation to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence only to cave to leftist pressure and reinvite them. 

When Rubio's Reclaim America PAC sought to reserve an in-game spot for a 30-second television ad with Spectrum SportsNet LA, it was rejected without explanation, according to Fox News. 

Fox News is also reporting that an ad from CatholicVote was likewise rejected by local television and radio stations, with Spectrum regarding it as "too controversial." As the report mentions:

CatholicVote last week launched an ad, "The Dodgers Have Lost Their Way," as part of the organization’s $1 million campaign to raise awareness about the LA Dodgers’ decision to honor the Los Angeles chapter of a drag troupe The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, considered by many to be an anti-Catholic hate group.

The ads were initially scheduled to air on TV and radio stations in the days leading up to Friday's game, which the Dodgers are calling LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be honored with a Community Hero Award.

According to CatholicVote, shortly before the first ad was to run June 9, Spectrum SportsNet LA, the sports network that carries Dodgers games in the LA market, rejected CatholicVote's ad as "too controversial" after first accepting it to run last weekend.

"We weren't shocked that the Dodgers' affiliate canceled our ad because the Dodgers have shown repeatedly that they only care about the feelings of these extremist bigots," Tommy Valentine of CatholicVote told Fox News Digital.

"We pivoted quickly and already have millions of views of the ad across various platforms. We will not be silenced, and we will not stand idly by while the Dodgers show their contempt for Catholics".

CatholicVote has shared the ad across its social media channels. It currently has 3 million views on YouTube in the week that it's been up. 

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The ad begins by calling to mind how the Dodgers were "trailblazers" in playing Jackie Robinson, and that they "were right" to play him, which "helped power a movement and changed a nations." 

By honoring the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence the ad claims, "the Dodgers are putting it all at risk." The ad describes the group as one "that mocks Catholic nuns with vile sexual perversions, pole dances on crosses, blessings with sex toys, even sexualizing the Virgin Mary and the words of Jesus Christ."

"A fringe group like this honored, awarded, celebrated?  There is no equality in mocking women religious.  No tolerance in hate, no pride in anti-Catholic bigotry.  Mocking Christians is not the Dodger way," the ad concludes. 

The senator and CatholicVote were also rebuffed by the Los Angeles Times, as the outlet rejected a column co-authored by Rubio and Brian Burch, the president of CatholicVote. The column, "Anti-Catholic Hate Has No Place in America, Much Less America’s National Pastime," has since been published by the Federalist.

The LA Times, however, did publish an op-ed on Thursday morning from Gustavo Arellano, "For some LGBTQ+ Catholics, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a drag," which refers to the vulgar activities of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as only "supposed sacrilege."

The column also makes such claims as to how "If these people paid as much attention to poverty, there would be no homelessness in Los Angeles" and "Many are angry at me because I've cast them as gay bashers, a stance that's easy to defend," speaking of groups like CatholicVote and others. 

Arellano also seeks to pat himself on the back for reaching out to gay Catholics who would dare to be opposed to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

"I was curious to hear from gay Catholics who are siding with Gomez and honest-to-goodness homophobes on an issue--drag--that's such a big part of queer culture. My knee-jerk reaction was to call them sellouts, or deluded, as many progressives would," he wrote, adding "But that's not what Jesus would do," which is why he "set out to hear from my fellow Catholics about how they rationalize loving a church that doesn't always love them, while denouncing a group devoted to fighting intolerance of LGBTQ+ people."

Again, the solemnity is a special day for Catholics which celebrates the love of Jesus. Despite Arellano's sneering at the Church for doing so, it is not all that surprising that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) would declare earlier this week that "Catholics Invited to Pray an Act of Reparation on Solemnity of the Sacred Heart," which refers to "an act offered to the Lord with the intention of repairing the spiritual damage inflicted by sin." The Dodgers are not mentioned by name. 

Masses have also been honored as a prayerful response for the Dodgers honoring such anti-Catholic behavior, and a Catholic news outlet in Los Angeles has also called for prayers.

However, not are all pleased with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, since it sent out a memo reminding people that the peaceful and prayerful protests, which CatholicVote will be participating in, do not have the backing or the approval of the archdiocese. 

"Pride Night" and "Most Sacred Health of Jesus" have been among the Twitter trends on Friday.