Habit forming: The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

[kweerwolf]

(Here's a cute feature out of San Diego on this group in "nun drag")

Perhaps you’ve seen them in and around San Diego. A gaggle of nuns, but not the kind of nuns you’re used to seeing. These nuns are wearing habits that forsake the usual gray and black for splashier reds and lavender, among other colors. They wear geisha-like makeup – ghostly white faces that are streaked with blue and orange and red Egyptian eye shadow. Their lips are wet with glitter and gloss; their bejeweled and feathered cornets (headdresses) rising high above their heads. They are the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

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Their mission, not unlike traditional Roman Catholic religious orders, emphasizes community outreach, education and service. Advocating a sex-positive philosophy, “Give up the guilt,” the San Francisco group organized as an order in 1980 and were later incorporated in 1986.

Traditionally, nuns come up with their own name, or they are christened by older experienced nuns, and there is no difference with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. However, their names are most often of the irreverent and outrageous variety: Sister Missionary Position, Sister Roz Erection, Sister Hysterectoria… you get the picture. And although originally founded as an “order of gay male nuns,” the group now consists of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual men and women.

And in case you think the Sisters are merely a band of scene-stealing, cross-dressing former drama geeks out to crash every parade or city fest with their zany antics and colorful costumes, consider this: In 1982, the S.F. Sisters joined with a team of medical professionals to create “Play Fair,” the first sex-positive safer-sex pamphlet to address the AIDS crisis with sex-positive information, practical advice and humor. 1982 also saw the first AIDS fund-raiser with the Second Annual Dog Show in the Castro (where the Sisters were joined by none other than spiritual diva Shirley MacLaine). In 1983, they organized the first AIDS candlelight vigil. They have held ongoing fund-raisers for the AIDS Memorial Quilt and Project Open Hand (an organization that provides meals to homebound people with HIV and AIDS), and weekly bingo games in local churches to help fund local charities and nonprofit organizations.

http://www.gaylesbiantimes.com/?id=6419

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. If they didn't exist

we would have to invent them.

They sound ghastly. Which can be cool.

[Luminous Animal]

2. I love the Sisters

They've done amazing work in San Francisco and just the sight of a flock of them walking down the street can make the whole day happier. My family has attended their annual Halloween fundraiser and subsequent children's party and parade through the Castro for years.