LA Drag Nuns Defeat the Religious Right, “And please remember: Love always wins!”
#166
Welcome to Third Cultured, a newsletter about Queer people in diplomacy, politics, and war from the perspective of Kyle Borland (he/they). My goal is to highlight all the ways today is different (and not so) from yesterday.
If you enjoyed what you read, please like this post and subscribe to get future editions.
Third Cultured is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
This edition:
Opinion Essay
Queer Links
Opinion Essay
After revoking the Sisters’ invitation last Wednesday, the Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will again receive the Community Hero Award from the LA Dodgers for their decades of service to the LGBTQIA+ community.
The California queer community mobilized in force following the Dodger’s announcement last week. Every other LGBTQIA+ organization in LA announced they would not participate in the team’s 10th annual Pride Night. Elected officials from all over the state condemned the Dodgers for caving to far-right pressure from Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) and the Catholic League claiming the Sisters – an organization founded in HIV/AIDS activism that fundraises for queer homeless youth and other LGBTQIA+ causes – are an “anti-Catholic hate group.” The Sisters organized a swift campaign in response, rallying ally Dodger fans to contact the organization at its fan feedback email address.
By the next day, the team had signaled it was likely to reverse course amid backlash from officials, activists, and rank-and-file Dodger fans.
Yesterday, the following Monday, they made the reversal official.
“In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family,” the team’s post continued.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence said they appreciated the Dodgers’ conciliatory gesture: “We believe the apology is sincere.”
They added, “And please remember: Love always wins!”
The fight over the Dodgers is the latest salvo in the right’s ongoing war against queer people nationwide. That this occurred in a major US city, where no organization should feel the need to cave to a rabid religious minority of any denomination, makes it all the more worrying. These hateful zealots are desperate for a scapegoat to distract from their emptying pews and the wandering hands of the Christian clergy. The community is already tense going into Pride next month, expecting the energized bigots to ramp up their assaults on queer people in-person, legislatively, and online.
Thankfully, LGBTQIA+ organizing won the day, but it will take similar rallying efforts like the one the Sisters put together against the Dodgers to protect our community. If you’ve been on the fence in this fight, now is the time to make your allyship with the queer community known. Loudly. We need the numbers now more than ever.
Stay safe, beautiful people.
As always, thanks for reading. (And, don’t forget to “like” this post!)
Kyle (@kgborland)
Queer Links
11 countries where LGBTQ+ people still face death penalty (Pink News)
Advocates battle to publish West Africa's first LGBT magazine (France24)
Big Dyke Energy: On The Patriarchy, Women's Sexuality, and the Invention of Heterosexuality (Life is a Sacred Text)
Chinese government forces Beijing LGBT Center to close (Foreign Policy, Washington Blade)
Fears for Pride season amid rising attacks against LGBTQ+ community (News is Out)
Florida's LGBTQ+ Activists Plan to Fight Back Against DeSantis's ‘Slate of Hate’ (The Advocate)
For a Queer Community in Los Angeles, This Public Park Is a Lifeline (NYTimes)
Gay Congressmembers introduce resolution to expel George Santos (LGBTQ Nation)
Gay Men in Nigeria Targeted in Dating App Extortion Scheme (The Advocate)
LGBTQ rights in Europe: Malta leads, Poland lags (DW)
Masculinity Is the Soft and Vulnerable Thing Inside Me (Electric Lit)
Protesters rally in Montgomery against discriminatory bills targeting LGBTQ+ community (Alabama Reflector)
Remembering the legacy of Harvey Milk, the gay pioneer who tragically became a martyr (Pink News)
San Francisco names D’Arcy Drollinger the nation’s first-ever drag laureate (Bay Area Reporter)
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signs 3 more anti-LGBTQ+ bills into law. He’s now signed 7 this year. (LGBTQ Nation)
“This entire legislative session, extremist politicians in Tennessee have spent their time attacking the LGBTQ+ community,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakely. “We’re now nearing almost 20 anti-LGBTQ+ laws passed in Tennessee since 2015, making it increasingly hostile and unlivable for LGBTQ+ Tennesseans, and particularly for transgender and nonbinary people. Governor Lee has crafted his own legacy – a legacy stained with discrimination, propaganda, and harm. LGBTQ+ people will not be erased, no matter what Lee and the legislature do. Tennesseans will continue fighting back.”
There is nothing un-African about being gay. Museveni’s bigotry will cost lives (The Guardian)
Tom of Finland: Pioneer of queer sexual power (Indian Express)
