The same day a report from the Illinois attorney general found that 451 Catholic clergymen sexually abused nearly 2,000 children from 1950 to 2019–yet another instance of authority figures in the church coming under the spotlight—Fox News host Jesse Watters opted to describe an LGBTQ+ advocacy and charity organization that addresses sexual intolerance as a “hate group.”
Watters was complaining about how the Los Angeles Dodgers decided Monday to re-invite the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence to their Pride Night in June, after first rescinding their invitation amid complaints from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Bill Donahue, president of the Catholic League, and other conservatives.
Watters offered his summary of the situation dating back to when the baseball team first announced their invitation to the LGBTQ+ group, who describe themselves as “a leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns” that “use[s] humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.”
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“So some Dodgers fans are not happy with the announcement,” Watters said. “They didn’t want crossdressing nuns insulting their family’s faith at the game. So the Dodgers pulled the invite. But you don’t uninvite the anti-Christian guys in drag unless you want to have the mob after you. Don’t you get it? You’re the problem.”
In an interview with The Washington Post, group member Sister Unity said their intentions are not to mock religion or promote anti-Catholic sentiment and that “we’ve never said we’re against the Catholic Church. We are not.” Sister Unity added that their dress is meant to expose the bigotry among its causes.
Yet despite this, Watters continued: “The guys wearing wigs ridiculing sister Mary are welcomed anywhere, no questions asked. So the Dodgers caved. Pride night featuring a hate group is back on,” the Fox host said. Watters then called back to one of the more recent right-wing grievances: Bud Light’s partnership with a transgender social media influencer.
“The Dodgers Bud Light-ed themselves for drag queens desecrating the Catholic Church,” Watters said clunkily, before criticizing retail chain Target in the same vein over swimwear it had been selling.
Target told The Daily Beast Tuesday that it is removing some items from its stores and making other changes due to “threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work.”
