Thousands of demonstrators descended upon Dodgers Stadium Friday evening to protest the team’s Pride Night ceremony honoring a controversial group of queer and trans nuns.
Organized by the group Catholics for Catholics, the massive crowd jammed up the main entrance of the ballpark ahead of the scheduled pre-game ceremony celebrating the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, according to reports.
The mass of protesters, some holding signs like “Bud Light the Dodgers” and “Stop Anti Catholic Hate,” took over the entire block on Vin Scully Avenue and chanted “Save our Children.”
The local chapter of the Sisters, whose members dress up in drag in traditional Catholic nun habits, are being presented with the Dodgers’ Community Hero Award for their “lifesaving work” for the teams’ 10th annual Pride Night.
Critics have blasted the group as a “blatantly perverted, sexual, and disgusting anti-Catholic hate group.”
Friday’s protests come after weeks of drama that saw the Dodgers walk back on their decision to honor the group and then ultimately change their minds and decide to go forward with the award presentation.
In May, the Dodgers initially announced it would honor the Los Angeles’ chapter of The Sisters with the award, sparking outrage from Catholics who blasted the group as blasphemous.
But amid severe backlash, the organization rescinded their invitation “Given the strong feelings of people who have been offended by the sisters’ inclusion in our evening,” the Dodgers tweeted.
However, the team had a change of heart and instead decided to go forward presenting the Sisters with the award, despite objections from presidential candidates Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and former Mets pitcher Trevor Williams.
Even Dodgers ace and Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw voiced his frustration bringing the group to the stadium.
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” Kershaw said. “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.”
The “nuns” — who use names like Sister T’aint A Virgin, Sister Porn Again and Sister Holly Lewya to protect their identities— first appeared on Easter Sunday, 1979 in San Francisco, according to their website.
“We use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit,” the Sisters’ website says.
After the team initially invited the Sisters, Catholic League president Bill Donohue also wrote to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred calling the invitation an “unprovoked assault on Catholics.”
“Don’t believe the lie that the ‘Sisters’ mean no harm,” he said, accusing the Dodgers of “rewarding hate speech.”
Brian Burch, president of the advocacy group CatholicVote, also wrote to the head of MLB, saying that the “vile and diabolical actions” of the “hate group” being honored “go far beyond parody or satire – they are blasphemous and deeply offensive to Christians everywhere.”
“If the Dodgers are truly committed to fighting bigotry and promoting inclusivity, as you have often claimed, you must cancel this award,” he wrote.
After the Dodgers apologized to the Sisters and the group was invited to the event again, the sisters called the national controversy a “silver lining.”
“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,” the organization said in a statement on their website.