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Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

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From San Francisco, Sister Hellen Wheels, Sister Kitty Catalyst O.C.P. and Sister Flora Goodthyme at SF's club Mezzanine for Michael Brandon Blessing photo by Mark Englelhart used with permission
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Float at the 2004 San Francisco Gay Pride Parade.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are self-described 21st century nuns for the gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, lesbian and kink communities and are quite serious about this role . 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. One was when they staged an exorcism of the Pope on his visit to San Fancisco in 1987. Another was when Catholic groups tried to prevent the Sisters closing Castro Street on Easter Sunday for their 20th anniversary celebration in 1999. The resulting worldwide attention ensured a healthy crowd and what the Sisters estimated was a million dollars worth of publicity for their organisation .

Today, The Sisters continue to uphold their vows to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt while serving their respective communities.

See also

Notes

  1. "The Abbey of St Joan". Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  2. ^ "Eros Ezine 13 May 2003". Retrieved 2006-11-04.
  3. ^ "Potted history on the sisters main site". Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  4. "Catholic League's Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism 1999". Retrieved 2006-10-29.
  5. "Catalyst". Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  6. "Catholic San Francisco". Retrieved 2006-10-08.
  7. "Russian River Sisters". Retrieved 2006-10-07.


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