June 19 — The Los Angeles Dodgers held their annual Pride Night on Friday, but entrances were blocked for a little while as protesters spoke out against the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a drag queen group of nuns that were honored.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have been around since the 1970s and they dress up as nuns — something a lot of people found disrespectful.
Thousands of protesters were at the game and were peaceful.
Michele Jansen of NewsTalk 103.7FM pointed out, “I think the Dodgers were wary because they held the honoring of these so-called nuns an hour before with a mostly empty stadium. They were not protesting gay people as some suggested. They were not protesting, even honoring the idea that you would support equal legal rights for people. They were protesting a group being honored that obviously mocks Catholics and Christians and I’m just I’m waiting for the drag queens in the burqa or hijab, doing obscene things with the Koran or traditional Jewish Jewish Orthodox hairstyle yamika-wearing drag queens doing horrible things with the Koran to be honored at such an event. They may do good things otherwise, but they certainly seem to be a hate group as far as Catholics and Christians are concerned. It is objectionable that the Dodgers would honor that and I thought the manager of the Dodgers was pretty pathetic in his statement saying well I was raised that we respect everybody and that you wouldn’t do things against what you would want people to do to you. Well, really, manager? You would want your religion mocked? I just find it pretty hideous that people think that it’s acceptable. I know they can. I know the free speech issue. But why would you honor what seems to be a hate group to Catholics and Christians?”
Some Catholic Archbishops have called it blasphemy and were incredibly offended.
Attorney Clint Barkdoll added, “The Dodgers were very clever with this though because they repositioned this event so that it was an hour before the start of the game. So they got this out of the way very quickly before there was really anyone in the stadium. There was a massive protest there. You can look with your own eyes at the pictures. There are people everywhere protesting that event, but they got it all out of the way before the game because now the Dodgers are also pointing out that the game itself, they had above average attendance. This was Pride Night at the game and they had 45,000, 47,000 people there. These sports teams, they have the absolute right to do this. This is not the government. The First Amendment rights here don’t apply because these are private actors holding these events. But at what point do these sports teams go too far? Bringing these groups in that are clearly offensive to a big percentage of the population and in Los Angeles of all places, and particularly when you have leaders in the Catholic Church calling this out saying that this is offensive to the church itself. It remains to be seen if this will be an annual event at the Dodger’s Stadium.”
Jansen said, “We only had three players come out publicly to say — and they all made it clear this is about them offending a faith, not about the whole pride issue per se, or tolerance. I think the reason they’re afraid to say too much is what happened to the Blue Jays baseball player Anthony Bass. Now that was a little bit of a separate issue. He simply liked, I believe, a social media post on the Target and Bud Light boycotts and he had to apologize. He has to agree to do a re-education. Then he made the fatal mistake of saying a little bit later into this that yeah, I’m gonna do that stuff but my private position is the same and people can have their private views. Well, apparently not because he was almost immediately cut from the Blue Jays after he made that statement.”
Barkdoll said, “This is the trend you see with pro sports athletes, Hollywood celebrities. They come out with these statements, and there’s immediate backlash on this kind of thing.”
Garth Brooks over the weekend has said he’s going to serve Bud Light at his bar in Nashville, TN, and calls to boycott the bar happened almost instantaneously.
Barkdoll said, “He’s now saying he may not even open the bar. He’s saying the heck with it. I’m not going to put up with all of this social backlash. No matter what position you take, it seems like you lose. The thing with the Blue Jays was interesting because Anthony Bass then not only did he immediately remove that like or that post, as often is the case when he came out made subsequent statements, it almost made the situation worse and within hours, the Blue Jays cut him.”
Pat Ryan of NewsTalk 103.7FM noted, “Garth Brooks had his investors yank out on him as well. Hey, you know what, Garth? Just play your freaking guitar and shut up. And you know what Targets? Just sell your clothes and you know what Bud Light? Just do what you do. You are cool. I’ll be cool. We are cool. And just leave this stuff alone. Mess around in your own life and your own bathroom and your own bedroom and stay the freak away from me.”
Jansen added, “LGBTQ+ activism is becoming quite intimidating and aggressive. That’s why the Dodgers had to pull back and invite them because they were afraid of losing out monetarily.”
Ryan said, “Here’s the direct result of it. You eat what you have served up on the platter.”
