We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sister Dominia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sister below.

Alright, Sister thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are constantly misunderstood, and it’s that misunderstanding of who we are and what we do can manifest itself in alarming ways. In 2023 The LA Dodgers chose to honor us for our years of community work, non-profit charity fundraising, and most importantly our fight against HIV/AIDS here in Los Angeles. The reaction to our recognition brought down the ire and hate of various conservative media organizations, right-wing politicians, religious conservatives, and a particular catholic bishop from Texas who chose to fly in and organize a march against us and the Dodgers. Instead of learning who we are and trying to understand why our group exists, they chose to attack, misrepresent, and feed into the hate and ignorance that we Sisters fight against. For us, that reaction reinforced our belief that the stigmatic guilt society and religion has created lacks the basic tenants of loving and accepting yourself, loving your neighbor, supporting each other in times of peril, standing up for what is right regardless of whether or not that is your personal reality… You can’t use hate, the passing of laws, physical violence, or death threats to oppress people and then call yourself righteous.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a world wide order of Queer Nuns dedicated to the promulgation of universal love and joy. As a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization, we raise much needed funds for local non-profit agencies that support all the needs of our diverse queer community. Since our inception in San Francisco in 1979, the Sisters have been on the forefront of the fight against HIV and AIDS. We work to end the social stigma around the disease, we support and encourage everyone to be who they are, unashamed and proud of their true self, and we encourage thoughtful and sincere dialog in the spirit of understanding and acceptance. We are Nuns in our right. We take vows. We make a commitment to support and work within our community to help foster love and joy. Our habit and attire can be controversial, but it is done out of reverence and recognition of the countless sisters that have come before us, serving their community faithfully because that was their calling. This is our calling.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

There are many lessons one needs to unlearn when you have spent your whole life being told you can only think one way, only love one way, only believe one thing, and everyone else is wrong. Thinking for yourself all the while everyone around you is saying the exact opposite with such certainty can be difficult, especially if those words are coming from your home. From the sitcoms that present a “normal” family, to books that are being banned, one way of life is being presented leaving no room for diversity and free expression of others. Realizing that you don’t need to be like everyone else, that you don’t need to live your friends life, that it’s ok to look or be different s quite a powerful moment.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

If artists and creative individuals are expected to thrive in society today there needs to be not only funding, which seems to on many budget chopping blocks, but accepting diverse thoughts and ideas which may seem outside the norm.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lasisters.org
• Instagram: @ladragnuns
• Facebook: Los Angeles Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

Image Credits

Dusti Cunningham
Charles Chavez