Sistory
In the Beginning
Fred Brungard moved to Iowa City, after being kicked out of seminary for being gay. He soon met up Ken Bunch and they became co-chairs of the University of Iowa’s Gay Liberation Front. Along with some college friends, they created the Sugar Plum Fairies – a cabaret style drag group. One of the friends asked the nuns at a local Catholic school if they could borrow some unused nun habits for a performance of the Sound of Music they were putting on. With the habits in hand, the friends began performing as drag nuns.
Easter Weekend
By 1979, Bunch and Brungard lived in the Castro district of San Francisco. Rejecting the hypermasculinity found in the gay culture at the time, the two friends, along with Baruch Golden, put on the nun outfits (that had moved with them from Iowa) and hit the town on Easter Sunday. The public loved it!
Radical Faeries
In response to what was perceived as a disconnected gay culture at the time, the Radical Faerie movement took root at this time. Its founders wanted to focus on the “gay spirit” that formed bonds between men to care for one another and to connect them to the Earth. Radical Faeries challenged followers to rethink what it meant to belong to community and to chosen family. The Radical Faeries held their first gathering in August 1979 in Benson, Arizona. The Radical Faeries would go on to influence the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, with membership overlapping between the two groups in the early years.
Naming of the Sisters
By March 1980, the group of drag nuns officially took the name Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. The three founders were now known as Sister Missionary Position (Fred Brungard, who later changed her name to Sister Soami); Sister Vicious Power Hungry Bitch (Ken Bunch, who now goes by Grand Mother Vish-Knew); and Sister Historectoria (Agnes de Garron). They attended their first protest, which happened to be an anti-nuclear march; and held their first fundraiser, a bingo and salsa dance, which benefitted a gay Cuban refugee program at a local community church.
Play Fair!
As AIDS ravaged the gay community during the 1980s, Sister Florence Nightmare and Sister Roz Erection, both public health nurses in their lay-lives, lead the efforts of the Sisters creating and distributing the first ever safer sex pamphlet. Play Fair! was a simple 4-page pamphlet that emphasized medically-supported safer sex practices with the Sisters’ trademark irreverent humor. The pamphlet set a worldwide standard for sex-positive messaging that promotes strong community health goals.
First AIDS Vigil
After appearing on the cover of Newsweek magazine, Sister Florence Nightmare and other drag nuns hosted the first AIDS Candlelight Memorial. With AIDS decimating the gay community, including the ranks of Sisters, the Order continued with their safer-sex education and fundraising efforts. The early public health work by the Sisters helped lead to the creation of World AIDS Day by the World Health Organization and the United Nations. World AIDS Day is observed annually on December 1.
Pope John Paul II Visit
Shortly before Pope John Paul II was scheduled to visit San Francisco, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI) wrote a damning letter essentially LGBTQ people were responsible for any violence they experienced at the hands of others. In response, the Sisters hosted a Papal Welcoming Committee, where they held a mock exorcism of Pope John Paul II. As a result, the FBI began an investigation into the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – and the Sisters were said to have been placed on the official Papal List of Heretics.
Hunky Jesus
Continuing in their historic roots of celebrating Easter Sunday in the most fabulous of ways, the San Francisco Sisters began hosting an annual fundraiser, which included a 13-stop bar crawl (think Stations of the Cross), along with a Hunky Jesus and Sexy Mary drag contest. Within four years, the event attracted 5,000+ attenders and raised $13,000 in a single day.
LA Dodgers Controversy
In 2023, the Los Angeles Dodgers named the LA Sisters as their honored guests for their Community Hero Award. This annual event is held during June’s Pride Night at the stadium. Backlash came swift with Catholic organizations and Florida Senator Marco Rubio began criticizing the Sisters. As a result, the Dodgers cancelled the Sisters planned public appearance – only to re-invite them after even greater nationwide public criticism ensued.
