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The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are self-described "21st century nuns" for the gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, lesbian and kink communities. They are social activists, and many of the Orders are non-profits within their respective countries raising money for AIDS and other charities and community service organizations, and have been leaders in the campaign for safer sex and personal responsibility.
The organization was started in 1979 in San Francisco, California, and has grown to include Houses on five continents, including ones in Seattle, Washington (1987), Los Angeles, California (1995), as well as England, France, Germany, Scotland, Australia, Uruguay, and Switzerland with more than six hundred nuns worldwide. A recent generation of official missions houses has started in Las Vegas, Nevada, Portland, Oregon and San Diego, California.
The San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have raised well over $1,000,000 and distributed it to non-profit organizations that serve the queer and sex positive community. Other orders worldwide support various organizations such as the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund and Wendy's Hope, a women's breast cancer charity.
Originally, the organization included only gay male nuns, but it now includes people of all genders and orientations including intersex, gay or homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, and transgendered.
Sister Boom-Boom (from San Francisco), since retired from the group, ran for San Francisco City Council and got over 23,000 votes on the "Nun of the Above" ticket and was immortalized in the play "A Simple Matter of Justice" about the trial of Dan White for the assassination of SF openly gay Supervisor Harvey Milk and SF Mayor George Moscone.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence believe that many institutions and social constructs are a source of dogma, hypocrisy, guilt and shame. This has lead to encounters with the Catholic Church. The first was when French photographer Jean-Babtiste Carhaix toured photographs of the Sisters in Belgium. The second when the San Francisco Catholic Observer rallied against the group closing Castro Street on Easter Sunday for their 20th anniversary celebration in 1999. The resulting worldwide attention ensured a healthy crowd and an estimated million dollars worth of publicity for the Sisters.
Today, The Sisters continue to uphold their vows to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt while serving their respective communities.