Sports
Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence won't be at Dodgers' Pride Night. Drag nuns are booked
The L.A. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence won’t be attending Dodgers Pride Night this year. Not in an official capacity anyway.
It’s not a reaction to the events of last year, when the team’s decision to honor the satirical performance and activist organization made up of queer nuns in drag, who are considered blasphemous by some Christians, with its Community Hero Award erupted into a national controversy, leading to a massive protest outside Dodger Stadium and causing concern for the Sisters’ safety.
But it is indirectly related to all of that.
The Sisters simply don’t have time to attend Friday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals. They are completely booked for all of Pride Month this year, something they credit to all the publicity they received a year ago during what founding member Sister Unity refers to as “the Dodgers kerfuffle.”
“A lot of new groups have come to ask us to appear at their events,” she told The Times in a recent Zoom interview that also included Sister Dominia, the president of the L.A. Sisters’ board of directors, and Sister June Cleavage, the board’s vice president. “It’s just been a whole other layer added on to our usual busy Pride season.”
“Much like a lighthouse, we’re a beacon for weirdos,” Sister June added. “People who get it come to us. And all this situation has done has made that light so much brighter. We’ve reached communities that are having their very first Prides and they want us there to support them. Because they know … they now have Sisters to lean back on.”
Last spring, the Dodgers caused an uproar among religious and other groups when they announced that the L.A. Sisters would be honored as part of the team’s Pride Night festivities — so much so that the Dodgers reversed that decision in mid-May.
But days later, after a marathon meeting that included members of the Sisters’ L.A. leadership, top Dodgers brass, California elected officials and local LGBTQ+ organizations, the team issued a statement offering “our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families” and reinviting the Sisters to receive their award on Pride Night.
In the same statement, the Dodgers wrote: “In the days ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family.”
Sister Unity and Sister Dominia told The Times that their group has not heard from the Dodgers since the events of last summer. Still, they praised the team for its ongoing efforts to embrace the LGBTQ+ community.
“Pride Night this year is continuing, they’re advertising, the presence in our community seems robust, our community seems engaged,” Sister Unity said. “So we don’t really need to be part of that, like, that doesn’t matter so much to us. What matters is that the Dodgers and the L.A. LGBT community are so together … because that’s what this is really about, that’s why there are gay pride parades at all.
“It’s to shore up people who have been pushed down so that they can participate and their gifts can be shared and appreciated as part of the entire community. This is always about making a diverse, colorful and multivoiced broad community. That’s what L.A. always has been and really always should be.”
The Dodgers declined to comment for this article.
All three sisters agree that the events of last year ended up being a blessing in disguise. While the negative reactions toward the group seem to have receded back to the pre-kerfuffle levels, they said, support remains at an all-time high.
“Our attackers afforded us for free $3 [million] to $5 million worth of publicity. Gratis!” Sister Unity said. “We could not have paid for what they ended up providing us with just by being in the news cycle.”
The Sisters have received a number of awards in the past year, including two this month from the Highways performance space in Santa Monica and the LGBTQ+ Lawyers Assn. of Los Angeles. Last week, they spoke at a ceremony at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration in downtown L.A. The Sisters were also at last year’s Hall of Administration Pride event, which marked the first time a Pride flag flew over an L.A. County building (the flag will fly daily at county offices in June).
The sisters also said that financial contributions to the group — which it divides and distributes to a variety of charities — also increased dramatically following the events of last June.
“I think what it did was it made people more aware that we exist,” Sister Dominia said. “And once people started to realize all the hate we were getting, you know the death threats and everything that came in, the community stood up for us. … Because certain things were said in every single article that were just flat-out wrong — that we’re anti-Christian, that we’re a hate group, we’re this and that. It was all the same and the people that know us are like, ‘No, that’s not who the Sisters are.’”
Sister Unity added: “There’s a level of inclusion now across the board. I observed that this was a cultural revolution in a small sense in America, where the quote-unquote weirdos were all of a sudden not put to the side so that the assimilated-looking people and the suits and ties could speak for us. We were given the microphone. We were put at the spear point of the movement and allowed to represent what is queer, which was different and wonderful.”
The Cleveland Browns, rumored to be willing to trade down from their No. 6 overall selection in the 2026 NFL draft, did just that Thursday evening when the traded the pick to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cleveland traded the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft to the Chiefs, in exchange for the ninth overall pick, as well as pick No. 74 in the third round and No. 148 in the fifth round.
The Browns now hold the No. 9 and No. 24 picks in the first round of the draft. They have a total of 11 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Quarterbacks Shedeur Sanders and Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns watch from the sidelines during a game against the Cincinnati Bengals at Huntington Bank Field in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sept. 7, 2025. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
So the Chiefs gave up three picks in making the first trade of the first round.
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And we know what the fan bases of both clubs were thinking prior to the selection:
Chiefs fans were thinking we know something they don’t. And then the Chiefs selected cornerback Mansoor Delane from LSU — a move no doubt forced by the club’s trade of Pro Bowl cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams earlier in the offseason.
So, the Chiefs fill a major need, assuming Delane is indeed the quality corner they believe.
LSU Tigers CB Mansoor Delane celebrates a defensive stop against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in South Carolina. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY Network)
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ESPN’s Mel Kiper didn’t like the pick, by the way. He had Delane as the 14th best player in the draft.
“It was a necessity,” ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, a former NFL defensive back, responded.
Browns fans weren’t thinking that way.
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They were probably thinking something akin to “We screwed up.”
This is understandable because they’re Browns fans and this could have been the Browns Browning.
Well, the Browns, moving down three slots, gave up a shot to draft linebacker Sonny Styles of Ohio State to the Washington Commanders, receiver Jordyn Tyson to the New Orleans Saints and then the Browns got their chance with the newly acquired No. 9 pick:
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Offensive tackle Spencer Fano of Utah.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 24, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Fano is good. And he makes the Browns offensive line instantly better because he’s going to likely start at left tackle for them.
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So what will Browns fans think of this pick?
They’ll probably wonder why the Browns didn’t pick Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, who went with the No. 10 pick to the New York Giants and promised “to die for” Jaxson Dart if necessary. They’ll wonder this because Browns fans expect the worst.
UCLA women’s basketball team has added some star power as its revamped roster begins to take shape.
Former Iowa State forward Addy Brown announced Thursday she is committing to UCLA, giving the Bruins one of the top players in the portal.
Brown averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.8% from three-point distance with the Cyclones last season. She played just 21 games due to injury, but she is one of the better two-way players in the nation on the transfer market.
The 6-foot-2 forward co-starred with Audi Crooks for Iowa State the past few seasons and was a part of the mass exodus from the Cyclones’ program.
The Bruins reeled in former North Carolina junior guard Elina Aarnisalo and former Texas Christian senior guard Donovyn Hunter a few weeks ago, adding two more experienced players to the depleted starting lineup after a record six UCLA players were selected in the WNBA draft.
UCLA also signed Arkansas sophomore guard Bonnie Deas earlier this month. She is likely to start at point guard for the Bruins and is one of the best rebounding guards in the nation.
Along with returner Timea Gardiner, the Bruins are starting to form somewhat of a core to defend their national championship. Gardiner was a starter during UCLA’s 2024-25 Final Four run, but missed all of this past season with injury and has one season of eligibility left.
A lineup with Deas and Aarnisalo in the backcourt, Hunter at the three and Gardiner or Brown at the four and adding another big or Sienna Betts at the five would be a competitive lineup in the Big Ten.
Before going to TCU, Hunter played two seasons at Oregon State where she earned All-Pac-12 Defensive Team honorable mention and All-Pac-12 Freshman team honors. This past season with a Horned Frogs team that went to the Sweet 16, she was third in scoring with 10.2 points per game and averaged 3.2 rebounds per contest. She also shot 45.7% from the field and was 33.7% from beyond the arc.
Aarnisalo played her freshman year in Westwood after she originally committed to UCLA in 2025. Due to injuries from point guard Kiki Rice at the start of the 2024-25 season, she was forced into action early her freshman season and finished the year averaging 5.1 points per game.
The Helsinki, Finland, native averaged 10.2 points per game for the Tar Heels as a sophomore last season while shooting 47.3% from the field and 40.3% from the arc. The Bruins will desperately need to replace the three-point production lost with the departure of Rice, Gianna Kneepkens and Charlisse Leger-Walker.
UCLA coach Cori Close said she wanted to sign five players from the portal. She probably needs one more guard and a little more forward depth coming off the bench following the departures of Gabriela Jaquez and Angela Dugalic.
Lena Bilic and Amanda Muse are returners coming off the bench who got a little bit of playing time in the tournament and should have much larger roles, but they are still relatively unproven in late-game situations. They will get a chance to develop as backups with some more Power Four experienced starters now in the fold.
Trump says there’s ‘no time frame’ to secure Iran deal
Republican Minnesota Senate candidate Tom Weiler joins ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss President Donald Trump’s blockade in the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S.-Iranian conflict continues and react to Gov. Tim Walz’s, D-Minn., criticism of the president.
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Saudi Arabia was among the countries seeing missiles fly into their airspace as a conflict broke out in the Middle East between the U.S. and Iran.
The prospect of Iran targeting its Middle Eastern neighbors like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates put some sporting events on hold and questioned others. Formula 1 races in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were canceled and rumors swirled around whether future WWE events could be held in the kingdom.
Roman Reigns celebrates his win during WWE’s Royal Rumble at Riyadh Season Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 31, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
As the Trump administration brokered a ceasefire with Iran, WWE announced on Thursday that its Night of Champions premium live event will be held in Riyadh on June 27.
“We are proud to welcome Night of Champions back to Riyadh and look forward to delivering another unforgettable night of WWE action for fans in the Kingdom and around the world,” General Entertainment Authority chairman Turki Al-Sheikh said in a news release.
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Sami Zayn makes his entrance during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
The release touted that WrestleMania 43 will still be held in Riyadh in 2027. It will be the first time that WrestleMania is held outside the U.S.
WWE president Nick Khan was adamant before WrestleMania 42 that the event will still take place in Saudi Arabia despite the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
“We’re doing WrestleMania next year in Saudi,” he said at a Sports Business Journal event, via The Sporting Tribune. “First time ever, WrestleMania will be outside the United States or Canada. And we’ve had a big, fruitful partnership with them.”
John Cena wrestles CM Punk during Night of Champions at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on June 28, 2025. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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He added that those complaining about WrestleMania being held in Saudi Arabia were a “vocal minority.”
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