By re-inviting a drag troupe of “queer and trans nuns” to their annual Pride Night celebration in June, the Los Angeles Dodgers are “bowing” to the “extreme elements” of the LGBT movement, the leader of a conservative Catholic organization says.
Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote, appeared on “Morning Wire” to talk about the team’s apology Monday to Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence that came with reversing its decision to disinvite the activist group that has offended Catholics.
It is “just shocking that the Dodgers would choose to honor them,” Burch told The Daily Wire’s Georgia Howe. The team chose instead to “slap Catholics in the face” as the group engages in “sacrilegious” behavior fraught with sexual innuendo that mocks the Catholic faith, he added.
Under pressure from CatholicVote, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and others, the Dodgers said last week that the team chose to disinvite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group known for its drag queens who dress up as nuns, because of “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.”
But, with LA Pride, which produces the annual LA Pride Parade and Festival, and Los Angeles LGBT Center warning they would skip Pride Night set for June 16th in protest, the Dodgers announced on Monday that “feedback” from diverse communities led to the team to offer an apology to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and a fresh invitation for the group to “receive the gratitude of our collective communities for the lifesaving work that they have done tirelessly for decades.”
Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence said the group accepts the team’s apology. “We believe the apology is sincere because the Dodgers have worked for 10 years with our community and as well they have asked us to continue an ongoing relationship with them,” the group said in a statement.
Outraged by the Dodgers’ turn-around, Burch responded with a vow to launch a “barrage” of advertising against the team across Los Angeles and in-game broadcasts. He said CatholicVote aims to raise $1 million to “pummel this decision in advertising that the Dodgers can’t ignore.”
Key to that pressure campaign, according to Burch, will be the large Hispanic/Latino population in Los Angeles, as many of these people are Catholic. “The more Catholics in Los Angeles learn about this, the more they will be really ashamed that their baseball team has chosen to honor” such a “vile” organization, he told The Daily Wire.
Calling the Dodgers the “Bud Light of baseball,” Burch said he aims to generate a wave of backlash akin to the Bud Light controversy that stemmed from its partnership with self-identified transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“Pride Night is one thing, but engaging in overt anti-Catholic bigotry is another thing,” he said.