Dodgers Pitcher Issues Strong Statement Against His Own Team for Inviting Anti-Christian LGBT Group

Blake Treinen #49 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on during the eighth inning in game two of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., on Oct. 12, 2022. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Two Los Angeles Dodgers pitchers spoke out this week after the team announced it will honor an anti-Catholic LGBT group during a "pride night" event on June 16, coming in the midst of boycotts against brands.

The group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, is a self-described “leading-edge Order of queer and trans nuns” that has been criticized as being insulting and blasphemous against the Christian faith. Amid a growing public backlash, the group was later disinvited, but the Dodgers eventually reversed their earlier decision and allowed the group to come back.

All-Star starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and relief pitcher Blake Treinen both issued statements about the matter.

“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” Kershaw, a Cy Young winner, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday in criticizing his team's decision. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”

Kershaw added that he attempted to approach the Dodgers management and relaunch a “Christian Faith and Family Day” after the team invited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. “As a team between my wife and I and different people that I respect, we talked a lot about the right response to this,” Kershaw added. “It’s never an easy thing, because it felt like it elicited a response.”

"This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or Pride or anything like that," Kershaw also said. "This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion, that I don’t agree with."

Treinen, meanwhile, was more explicit in his criticism and said the group "displays hate and mockery" of Christians.

"I am disappointed to see the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual Indulgence being honored as heroes at Dodger Stadium," Treinen wrote in a social media statement. "Many of their performances are blasphemous, and their work only displays hate and mockery of Catholics and the Christian faith.

"I understand that playing baseball is a privilege, and not a right. My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I have been with the Dodger’s [sic] they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups.. However, inviting the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual indulgence to perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hate of Christians and people of faith," he wrote.

He added: "This single event alienates the fans and supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professional sports. People like baseball for its entertainment value and competition. The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced on them. The debacle with Bud Light and Target should be a warning to companies and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field."

Boycott?

Last Monday, the Dodgers issued a statement saying that it re-invited the anti-Christian group once again. But the flip-flopping triggered other LGBT groups to distance themselves from the team event that is slated to be held this month.

“After much thoughtful feedback from our diverse communities, honest conversations within the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and generous discussions with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the Los Angeles Dodgers would like to offer our sincerest apologies to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their friends and families,” the team said.

Hours before Treinen released his statement on Monday, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass apologized for lending his public support to Target and Bud Light boycotts. A video that was released online showing his apparent apology was likened to the Chinese communist "struggle sessions" that occurred during dictator Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976, which destroyed thousands of years of traditional Chinese culture.

Trevor Williams #32 of the Washington Nationals throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, on May 29, 2023. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

But another pitcher, Washington Nationals right-hander Trevor Williams, also criticized the Dodgers' move to invite the Sisters group, arguing that it openly targets the Catholic faith. Williams went a step further and called for a boycott against the Dodgers.

“As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor the group ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year,” Williams said in a statement. “A Major League Baseball game is a place where people from all walks of life should feel welcomed, something I greatly respect and support. This is the purpose of different themed nights hosted by the organization, including Pride Night."