By The Athletic MLB Staff
Jun 2, 2023
Every MLB team except for the Texas Rangers will celebrate Pride Month in June, showing inclusivity and support for LGBTQ+ fans who love the game. But the Los Angeles Dodgers have had controversy surrounding their plans.
The Dodgers, hosting their 10th annual Pride Night on June 16, faced backlash from all sides after inviting, rescinding and then re-inviting The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The charity group includes drag performers who dress as nuns and “use humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit,” according to the organization’s website.
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The following is a timeline of everything that has happened involving the Dodgers’ Pride Night.
May 17: Dodgers rescind invitation for Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio wrote a letter to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on May 15 asking if The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — a San Francisco-based performance organization — would be “inclusive and welcoming to Christians.”
After the news of their invitation became “the source of some controversy,” per a statement the Dodgers released, the team removed them from their 10th annual Pride Night. The Dodgers made this decision due to “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 Night.”
Organizations including The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California and LA Pride, which puts on the LA Pride Parade and Festival, announced they would not participate in the Dodgers’ event in a show of solidarity.
May 18: San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence condemn Dodgers’ decision
The organization released a statement expressing “deep offense and outrage” at the Dodgers’ rescinded invitation. “Our ministry is real. We promulgate universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt and our use of religious trappings is a response to those faiths whose members would condemn us and seek to strip away the rights of marginalized communities,” Sister Rosie Partridge said in the statement.
May 20: Anaheim mayor invites Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Angels Pride Night
Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken tweeted an invitation for the group to be her guests at the Angels Pride Night on June 7. “I’m inviting the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to join me for @Angels Pride Night at Anaheim Stadium on June 7. Pride should be inclusive and like many, I was disappointed in the Dodgers decision.”
The Angels played no part in, and had no comment on, the group’s attendance at Angel Stadium.
GO DEEPERAs MLB Pride Nights drive conversation, are the Angels doing enough?May 22: Dodgers re-invite Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to Pride Night
The franchise, in a statement, said it decided to re-invite the group after “honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” The team also said it “would like to offer (its) sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families.”
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) May 22, 2023
May 30: Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw promotes Christian Faith and Family Day
Kershaw took to social media to announce the franchise was hosting a “Christian Faith and Family Day” on July 30. He told the Los Angeles Times the timing of the announcement was “in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence (by the Dodgers).”
Kershaw said the organization had already made plans for the event this season, as it was a regular part of the Dodgers’ annual promotional schedule prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said his biggest reason for opposition of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was the organization “making fun of other people’s religions.”
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“This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that,” he said. “This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion. That I don’t agree with.”
He said he and his wife decided the best response was to promote the relaunch of Christian Faith Day.
“We felt like the best thing to do in response was, instead of maybe making a statement condemning or anything like that, would be just to instead try to show what we do support, as opposed to maybe what we don’t,” Kershaw said. “And that was Jesus. So to make Christian Faith Day our response is what we felt like was the best decision.”
Kershaw said he does not plan to boycott Pride Night at Dodger Stadium.
Excited to announce the relaunch of Christian Faith and Family Day at Dodger Stadium on July 30th. More details to come— but we are grateful for the opportunity to talk about Jesus and determined to make it bigger and better than it was before COVID. Hope to see you on July 30th! pic.twitter.com/yNu7HyEgR9
— Clayton Kershaw (@ClaytonKersh22) May 26, 2023
May 31: Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence tweets opposition to Dodgers, MLB
Pence tweeted that, “Having been raised in a Catholic family, the Dodgers decision to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a hateful group that blatantly mocks Catholicism, to their event next month is deeply offensive.” He also cited MLB’s decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Georgia.
“The MLB should not be apologizing to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, they should be apologizing to Catholics across America. America’s pastime should respect the faith of every American no matter what,” Pence added.
Having been raised in a Catholic family, the Dodgers decision to invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a hateful group that blatantly mocks Catholicism, to their event next month is deeply offensive. Last summer the MLB moved their All-Star Game out of Georgia over a lie…
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) May 31, 2023
MLB moved the 2021 All-Star Game and Draft out of Georgia after the state passedvoting restrictionsthatprovided less time for voters to request absentee ballots and provided more control over the elections board to the Republican legislature, and was expected to disproportionately affect Black voters.
When is each MLB team’s Pride Night?
Twenty-nine of the 30 MLB teams — all but the Texas Rangers — hold an annual Pride Night. Here is when each team’s takes place:
2023 MLB Pride Nights
| Team | Pride Night |
|---|---|
April 14 | |
May 31 | |
June 6 | |
June 7 | |
June 7 | |
June 9 | |
June 9 | |
June 9 | |
June 9 | |
June 9-10 | |
June 10 | |
June 10 | |
June 13 | |
June 13 | |
June 13 | |
June 13, June 16 | |
June 15 | |
June 16 | |
June 16 | |
June 16 | |
June 16 | |
June 17 | |
June 20 | |
June 21 | |
June 21 | |
June 23 | |
June 28 | |
July 21 | |
Oakland A's | Sept. 1 |
(Photo: Brian Rothmuller / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
