Seattle Gay News
Issue 26, Volume 41, June 28, 2013
Community organizations
dulgence was made even more shocking in that one of these nuns carried a machine gun (for protection), and another was smoking a cigar. This was the time of the Castro Clone – a time in Queer history when only ultra-masculine men were sexually successful – think of it as the Marlboro Man meets a Tom of Finland illustration. It was a time where all Gay men either conformed to “the look” or met sexual oblivion. It was also around this time that televangelism was finding a niche, with Sister Ophelia Onassis
by Sr. Ophelia Onassis Special to the SGN
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long, long time ago (okay – in 1976), in a mysterious land far, far away (all right – Cedar Rapids, Iowa), a Roman Catholic convent of nuns who subscribed to the Order of St. Benedict loaned some retired nun’s habits to an all-male (The Sugar Plum Fairies) production of The Sound of Music. On Easter Saturday of 1979, three of those habits mysteriously made an appearance on the streets of San Francisco’s Castro District. This first appearance of the group that would later become known as the Sisters of Perpetual In-
but penguins already live there and we wouldn’t want to confuse the walruses. In 1986, Dee Lewis, under the name Mother Theresa Nervina, founded Seattle’s original House, and Sisters arrived in Seattle! In 1996, recognizing the need for a second House of Perpetual Indulgence in Seattle, the Abbey of St. Joan (the House I proudly represent) was formed. On July 14, 1996, Bastille Day (a day internationally recognized for its connection to revolution and freedom), our Founding Sisters, seeking to announce the formation of a new House in Seattle, baptized themselves in the waters of Lake Washington – reaffirming their comsee sisters page 28
photos courtesy The Sister of Perpetual indulgence
charismatic preachers like Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, etc., warning of the evils abroad in the land – evils that seemed to be led by homosexuality! (Oh, the things I remember these people saying!) The group made its next appearance at a softball game, where their pompom routine stole the show! In the fall of 1979, following the first International Faerie Gathering, our Founders – Sr. Hysterctoria, Sr. Vicious Power Hungry Bitch, Sr. Missionary Position, and Reverend Mother – created a mission statement, “To promulgate universal joy and to expiate stigmatic guilt,” and chose
a name for the group – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Our four Founders had no idea at the time of how the group would grow to span six continents, with thousands of men and women who share the original group’s vision. Since our humble beginnings, Houses or Orders of Perpetual I n d u lge n c e have formed in Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, Germany, P a r a g u ay, Ur ug uay, Canada, and across the United States. We have Sisters living and working in Africa and Asia. We’d like to be in Antarctica,