The Los Angeles Dodgers are facing a great deal of criticism ahead of upcoming LGBTQ+ Pride Night for the team’s decision to exclude a group from what is scheduled to be their 10th annual celebration of diversity and inclusion on June 16 at Dodger Stadium.

The club announced Wednesday that it will no longer be respected Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with her Community Hero award at the pre-match ceremony that evening, effectively counteracting the advocacy of the charity, protest and street performance organization that uses humor and religious imagery to draw attention to sexism.

The decision, which led to several groups walking out of the event in protest, came after intense pressure from conservative Catholic organizations, including the Catholic League and Catholic Voice, and after Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote a letter to the major league. Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred questions whether the inclusion of the Sisters of Eternal Indulgence would be “inclusive and Christian-friendly”.

in announce their decisionIn Exclaim!, The Dodgers noted that LGBTQ+ Pride Night “has become a meaningful tradition, highlighting not only the diversity and resilience within our fanbase, but also the poignant work of extraordinary community groups.” However, the team also said: “In view of the strong feelings of those who were offended by the Sisters’ participation in our evening, and in an effort not to distract from the great benefits we have witnessed over the years of Pride Night, they have decided to remove them from this year’s pool of honorees.”

By Thursday, what was supposed to be a Dodger Stadium Lightning celebration had become controversial. And judging by the negative reaction, whose strength surprised the organization, the club is working internally on possible compromises, according to a team official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the situation.

What the event looks like given the different dropout groups remains to be seen.

Los Angeles LGBT Center Dodgers decision condemned On Thursday, they demanded that the team change its stance on The Sisters of Eternal Indulgence or cancel Pride Night altogether.

The center’s statement read in part: “Faced with pressure from right-wing fundamentalists from out of state, the dodgers have succumbed to a religious minority that perpetuates a false narrative about LGBT people. They have been fed lies about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and have thus contributed to the ongoing anti-LGBT smear campaign in this country “.

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California was announced in On Wednesday night, in union with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, “we will not partake in Pride Night.” The organization noted that the Dodgers, who broke baseball’s color streak with Jackie Robinson in 1947, were previously “merger champions.”

And in a third crushing blow, the organizers of the LA Pride Parade and Festival said Thursday night that their organization Also will not attend the event. The group, which claims to have staged the world’s first permitted gay rights parade in 1970, said it was “very disappointed” at the team, which it described as a longtime partner.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was founded in 1979 in San Francisco. According to the group’s website, its members have dedicated themselves to “community service, service and outreach to those on the periphery, promotion of human rights and respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.” The organization uses “humor and reckless wit to expose the forces of intolerance, complacency, and guilt that fetter the human spirit.”

Members of the group, who describe themselves as a “pioneering order of lesbian and transgender nuns,” typically wear clothing with religious imagery, like the nuns’ habits.

The Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who have been actively serving the LGBTQ community in this community for 27 years, would have received the award from the Dodgers.

in A statement expressing disappointment That the Dodgers were “succumbing to pressure from people outside the state of California and outside our community” and noting that the Dodgers had chosen “not to ally with us in our continued service to the public,” the group went on to say:

We are silly and earnest. We use our ingenuity in service of our charitable work and our message, which is ‘There is room in our world for everyone to be who they are, as they are, free from shame or guilt, and alive in love and joy for themselves.’ .

“We would like to point out that although our LGBTQIA community is currently under attack by a small group of extremists trying to roll back the progress of the community, they are a small minority and do not represent the majority of Americans’ commitment to a country that lives side by side in the Great Melting Pot. “

For the Dodgers, Pride Night has become a growing and staple component of every season. Last year, for the first time, the Dodgers wore custom-designed rainbow logo caps for the game during what Eric Braverman, senior vice president of Marketing, Communications and Broadcasting, “has become one of the most anticipated game nights of the season.”

And last year’s Pride Night also closed a circuit of sorts by honoring Glenn Burke, the first major player to come out as gay, whom they traded to Oakland in 1978 after he declined the team’s offer to contribute $75,000 to a very nice honeymoon if he so desired. . marry a woman. The trade didn’t make sense unless you knew Burke’s personal life.

Burke was a close friend of Tommy Lasorda Jr., who was also gay and died of complications from AIDS in 1991. It was not until the death of the team’s Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda that the Dodgers moved to honor Burke on the Pride on the 2021 night. However, more than 40 of Burke’s family and friends traveled to Los Angeles for the occasion.

“These celebrations matter,” Billie Jean King, the Dodgers’ minority tennis star and honorary chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, told The Times last year. Just for a moment, slow down and think about all that is being celebrated, and think about the deeper meaning as well as the fun part.

“There is a lot to celebrate. But we also need to be very careful.”