Sen. Rubio and outraged Christian groups successfully knock award ceremony for anti-Catholic drag queens out of Dodger Stadium: 'Common sense prevailed'

The Los Angeles Dodgers originally planned to honor an anti-Catholic hate group comprised of radical transvestites who routinely mock Christians and celebrate degeneracy. Facing significant backlash from Catholic groups and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the team has backed down.

The Dodges issued a statement Wednesday afternoon, writing, "This year, as part of a full night of programming, we invited a number of groups to join us. We are now aware that our inclusion of one group in particular – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – in this year's Pride Night has been the source of some controversy.

"Given 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, we are deciding to remove them from this year's group of honorees," added the team.

This about-face has been commended by the targets of the hate group's mockery and criticized by LGBT activists.

What's the background?

TheBlaze previously reported that the Dodgers announced on May 4 that they were partnering with the activist group LA Pride for the 10th annual LGBTQ+ Pride Night at Dodger Stadium on June 16.

Together, they intended to confer the "Community Hero Award" to the so-called Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

According to its website, the SPI is a "leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns."

The motto for the San Francisco-based group is "Go forth and sin some more," an inversion of Christ's command to "go, and sin no more."

Since its inception on Easter Sunday 1979, the SPI has long ridiculed Catholic teaching and doctrine, mocking the church's orthodox views on marriage, sexuality, homosexuality, transgenderism, and abortion.

Brian Burch, the president of the advocacy group CatholicVote, indicated in "one famous stunt, they tricked an archbishop into giving them the Eucharist – the most important sacrament of the Catholic faith – so they could defile it."

The Dodgers reportedly chose the anti-Christian group "for their countless hours of community service, ministry, and outreach to those on the edges, in addition to promoting human rights and respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment."

What was the response?

Outraged Catholics and Christians from other denominations deluged both the Dodgers and the league with complaints, with some noting that the league's alleged commitment to welcoming everyone apparently did not extend to adherents of a religious tradition spanning more than two millennia.

CatholicVote called on Catholics earlier this week to contact the Dodgers and demand they cancel the plan to confer the award to the "anti-Catholic hate group."

The advocacy group noted hours later that the mailbox of the Dodgers' administrative offices had been filled.

Burch highlighted how "the award comes at a time when Catholics are under threat across the country," pointing to the more-than 300 acts of violence and vandalism against Catholic churches.

"We sincerely doubt that the Dodgers would give such an award to a group which made a similar travesty of the Jewish faith or Muslim faith," Burch noted. "Anti-religious bigotry of any kind has no place in baseball."

Sen. Rubio, a baptized Catholic, unloaded on MLB commissioner Rob Manfred in a letter Monday, noting, "Recently, you stated that Major League Baseball needs to 'make decisions that are as inclusive and welcoming to everyone as possible, and keep us as apolitical as possible.' I write to ask whether your League wants to be 'inclusive and welcoming' to Christians, and if so, why you are allowing an MLB team to honor a group that mocks Christians through diabolical parodies of our faith."

Rubio asked Manfred, "Do you believe that the Los Angeles Dodgers are being 'inclusive and welcoming to everyone' by giving an award to a group of gay and transgender drag performers that intentionally mocks and degrades Christians—and not only Christians, but nuns, who devote their lives to serving others? Do you believe such an award is 'apolitical'?"

The Republican senator added that it "would be an outrage and a tragedy if the MLB, in pursuit of modern, secular, and indeed anti-religious 'values,' rebuked that faith and the millions of believing fans who cherish the sport."

Degenerates knocked out of the park

After the Dodgers announced on Wednesday the SBI would not be receiving the award at the stadium in June, Rubio took to Twitter, writing, "For once, common sense prevailed in California."

CatholicVote president Brian Burch said of the development, "We are pleased that the @Dodgers reconsidered their decision to honor an anti-Catholic hate group known for their gross mockery of Catholic nuns."

Burch added, "While we continue to wonder how such a group was selected in the first place, this incident should serve as a wake-up call for all religious believers: unchecked woke corporations have no qualms about exploiting people of faith."

While Catholics and other Christians may be happy that a hate group that openly mocks their faith won't be lauded as heroes at center field, at least not on June 16, LGBT activists and SBI members are livid.

The LGBT activist group Equality California bemoaned the team's decision, noting it had taken place on the so-called International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia.

Equality California's executive director Tony Hoang criticized the Dodgers' decision, stating, "The anti-LGBTQ+ extremists who advocated for the removal of the Sisters from Pride Night are the very same people who are trying to erase the rights of trans kids and their families, criminalize drag performance and roll back equality for LGBTQ+ people across the country — we cannot and will not let them win."

One member of SBI, who calls himself "Sister Roma," tweeted, "So disappointing to see the @Dodgers cave to the conservative psuedo-Christian homophobes."

The San Francisco chapter of the SBI said in a Thursday statement, "The Dodgers capitulated in response to hateful and misleading information from people outside their community, who target not only the LGBTQQ++ community but also women’s autonomy over their bodies, people and communities of color, and other faiths and nationalities."

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