LOS ANGELES, Calif. (WTVO) — Catholic bishops are urging a boycott of the Los Angeles Dodgers after the team re-invited an “anti-Catholic” LGBTQ group to the annual Pride Night.
The “Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence” is a protest and performance group that originated in San Francisco in 1979. The non-profit group claims its performances that sexualize Jesus and mock other components of the Catholic faith are satiric, and says it is devoted “to community service, ministry and outreach to those on the edges, and to promoting human rights, respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.”
Opponents, however, urged the Dodgers to retract their decision to honor the group on the grounds that it mocks the Catholic faith.
Last week, the Dodgers announced that they had removed the Sisters from the group of Pride Night honorees, citing “the strong feelings of people who have been offended” by them.
However, this week, after a backlash from LGBTQ activists, the Dodgers announced the group would again be welcome at their June 16th event.
On Thursday, Catholic Bishop Robert Barron posted a video to Twitter, saying, “Friends, it’s hard to imagine anything more offensive than some of the behavior of the ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,’ which I think can only be described as an anti-Catholic hate group.”
“Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable prejudice in America, and we shouldn’t tolerate it,” he added.
Barron went on to advise Catholics to boycott the Dodgers.
“I’m a big baseball fan,” he noted. “I’ve even thrown out the first pitch at a Dodgers game. But I’d encourage my friends in LA to boycott the Dodgers. Let’s not just pray, but make our voices heard in defense of our Catholic faith.”
LGBTQ activism by global corporations has reached a flashpoint with consumers in recent months.
Bud Light’s recent sales-cratering partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney is part of a recent trend of popular brands promoting transgender personalities in traditional women’s roles. According to CNN, companies like Pantene, Gillette, Citi, and Adidas have made headlines for hiring transgender spokespersons.
In March, chocolate company Hershey chose to market an image of a trans woman in celebration of International Women’s Day.
This week, Target became caught up in the public firestorm after it put Pride Month displays in its stores that sold “tuck friendly” women’s swimsuits to allow trans customers to conceal their genitals.
Critics say the brands are promoting a caricatured version of femininity.
States have begun to enact laws restricting performances of drag shows at children’s events and parents have petitioned for the removal of LGBTQ-themed books containing explicit descriptions of sex acts from school libraries.
“We were sold a false bill of goods, that this was just gonna be kind of a live-and-let-live kind of libertarian approach to ordering our life together in society,” theologian and Christian Ethics Professor Andrew Walker told The Daily Wire.
“I think what we’re seeing is this kind of the metastasizing, outworking, and growth of the sexual revolution just doing what it’s naturally prone to do, which is to be all-consuming and to say that there are no limits whatsoever,” Walker said. “I believe in something like the natural law that every single person has some type of access to a general moral knowledge, and I think that that moral knowledge tells us that preying on children, sexualizing children is beyond the boundaries of a decent society. I think we’re seeing a reaction to that.”
According to a 2021 Gallup poll, 21% of people in Generation Z identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, compared to 3% of Baby Boomers. Gallup has also found that younger consumers are the most likely to want brands to promote diversity and take a stand on social issues.
