NFL Announces ‘A Night Of Pride’ During Super Bowl Week In Partnership With Organization That Supports ‘Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’
The NFL has announced that it will be hosting its third annual 'A Night of Pride' on February 7 in the lead-up to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The evening aims to "spotlight advances in the future of LGBTQ inclusion in professional sports as well the NFL's commitment to LGBTQ former and current players."
The NFL, just as it has the previous two years, is hosting the event in partnership with a non-profit organization called GLAAD - the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
“GLAAD's partnership with the NFL is committed to creating spaces where all fans can celebrate and to growing important visibility for LGBTQ fans at the Super Bowl and all season long," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in the league's official statement.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaking at 'A Night of Pride' in 2023. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for GLAAD)
More often than not, organizations and companies the NFL partners with are overlooked given the general public's lack of interest and the sheer number of partnerships the league already has in place.
GLAAD is worth circling, however, and if those five letters rang a bell in your head when you saw them, you're not alone.
This past May, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that they would be awarding a drag group called The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a Community Hero Award during their Pride Night celebration in June. These 'sisters' often use 'go and sin some more' as their motto, and people in the group frequently dress as Jesus and Mary.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are recognized before the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium on June 16, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images)
The Dodgers inviting, let alone awarding, a group that openly belittles Catholicism and Christianity during a game is patently absurd.
GLAAD didn't see it that way though.
After the Dodgers realized how insulting their awarding of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was going to be and rescinded the group's invite, the folks over at GLAAD voiced their displeasure.
"Let me be clear. This is NOT inclusion. LGBTQ rights and inclusion are rooted in protest and education. If you claim to stand for queer rights and joy yet fear controversy, get out of the way for others to do it right," Tony Morrison, the Senior Director of Communications for GLAAD, tweeted on May 18.
Ultimately, the Dodgers bent the knee to the mob and gave The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence their award over an hour before the game's opening pitch on June 16.
The Dodgers aren't a part of the equation when it comes to the NFL's relationship with GLAAD, however. Morrison's statement says it all, GLAAD is an organization that strongly supports biological men dressed in drag as nuns to mock Catholics and Christians and wants anyone who disagrees to "get out of the way."
That is the organization the NFL has decided to continue its partnership with for 'A Night of Pride' so it can check its 'we were politically correct this year' box the vocal minority demands.
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