JD Vance Falsely Brands Queer Charity ‘Devil-Worshipping’

US Vice President JD Vance has falsely described the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as “devil-worshipping” while campaigning for a Republican senator in Kansas.

Vance made the remarks during a MAGA Inc.-organised rally at Webco Manufacturing in Olathe on 14 September, where he appeared in support of Republican Senator Roger Marshall.

During his speech, Vance attacked Marshall’s Democratic opponent, Reverend Adam Hamilton, over the involvement of Hamilton’s church in Kansas City PrideFest.

Vance also mangled the name of the international queer protest and charitable movement, referring to a nonexistent group called “Our Ladies of Perpetual Indulgence”.

He then accused the Sisters of being “the devil-worshipping group that was saying special blessings before LA Dodgers games” and branded them an “anti-Christian hate group”.

Those claims misrepresent both the organisation and what happened at the Dodgers’ 2023 Pride Night.

Vance Attacks Democratic Pastor Over Pride Support

Hamilton is the founder and senior pastor of Resurrection, a United Methodist megachurch in the Kansas City area.

He is running as the Democratic candidate against Marshall in the Kansas Senate election on 3 November.

Resurrection was among numerous religious, community and corporate sponsors of KC PrideFest in June.

The church described its participation as an opportunity for staff and volunteers to engage with the local community and show support for LGBTQ+ people.

Vance attempted to use that sponsorship against Hamilton, claiming the pastor had “proudly supported a drag group called Our Ladies of Perpetual Indulgence”.

No organisation by that name exists.

Vance was apparently referring to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an international network of queer and transgender “nuns” known for combining drag, religious satire, community service and human-rights advocacy.

More importantly, Resurrection’s sponsorship of a major Pride festival does not establish that Hamilton or his church directly funded or endorsed every organisation or performer associated with the event.

Dodgers Did Not Invite Sisters To Bless Games

Vance also misrepresented the Sisters’ appearance at a Los Angeles Dodgers game.

The Sisters were not invited to deliver “special blessings” before Dodgers games.

In June 2023, the baseball team presented the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence with a Community Hero Award before its annual Pride Night game.

The award recognised the chapter’s charitable work.

The invitation became the subject of a national political controversy after conservative Catholic groups and Republican politicians accused the Sisters of mocking Christianity.

The Dodgers initially withdrew the invitation before reversing that decision and apologising amid criticism from LGBTQ+ organisations and other Pride Night participants.

The team ultimately honoured the Sisters before the game on 16 June 2023.

There is no evidence that the organisation conducted satanic worship or performed a religious blessing over the game.

Sister Roma Rejects Vance’s Claims

Sister Roma, one of the movement’s best-known members, rejected the vice president’s description.

“If he was talking about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, our name isn’t the only thing the vice president got wrong,” Roma said.

“I do not recognize or accept his inflammatory misrepresentation of who we are and what we do. The Sisters are a global human rights fundraising organization. We do not mock nuns, we are nuns.”

The distinction will not satisfy everyone.

The Sisters deliberately use exaggerated nun habits, religious titles and irreverent humour. Their performances can be provocative, and some Christians consider their satire offensive.

But finding the organisation’s style disrespectful is not the same as establishing that its members worship the devil or constitute a hate group.

Vance offered no evidence supporting either description.

Who Are The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence?

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence began in San Francisco in 1979 when a small group of gay men appeared publicly wearing nuns’ habits.

The movement developed into an international network of autonomous orders using drag, camp and religious satire to challenge shame surrounding sexuality and gender.

Its stated mission includes community service, human-rights advocacy, spiritual outreach and confronting bigotry through humour and irreverence.

The Sisters became particularly prominent during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Members raised money, promoted safer-sex education, cared for people living with HIV and challenged the stigma directed at gay men during an era of widespread fear and government neglect.

The San Francisco organisation describes itself as an all-volunteer order of queer and trans nuns devoted to spreading joy and combating guilt.

Its recent work has included grants for grassroots LGBTQ+ organisations, public-safety campaigns, fundraising and community outreach.

The Sisters Have Australian Roots Too

Although founded in the United States, the movement has a long connection with Australia.

Sydney’s Order of Perpetual Indulgence was established in 1981, making it one of the movement’s earliest international branches.

Australian Sisters have participated in LGBTQ+ activism, fundraising, community education and queer cultural events for decades.

That history makes Vance’s attack relevant beyond the immediate Kansas election.

For Australian LGBTQ+ communities, the Sisters are not simply an obscure American group caught in a culture-war dispute. They form part of a wider tradition of queer activism that has used humour, spectacle and religious imagery to confront discrimination.

Hamilton Campaign Highlights Church’s Community Work

Hamilton’s campaign responded to Vance by highlighting Resurrection’s wider charitable record.

According to the campaign, the church fed more than 45,000 people during 2025, distributed nearly 60,000 children’s books, supported foster families, held blood drives and helped build affordable housing.

That work complicates Vance’s attempt to present the church as hostile to Christian values merely because it supported a Pride event.

Hamilton has spent decades leading one of the largest United Methodist congregations in the United States.

His candidacy presents Republicans with an unusual opponent: a prominent Christian pastor arguing that religious faith and LGBTQ+ inclusion are not incompatible.

Conservative campaigners have consequently focused heavily on Hamilton’s theology, his church’s Pride involvement and his more moderate interpretation of Christianity.

Queer Communities Become A Campaign Weapon

Vance’s remarks form part of a broader political strategy in which LGBTQ+ organisations, drag performers and inclusive churches are portrayed as threats to Christianity or family life.

The tactic allows politicians to attack an electoral opponent indirectly by associating them with groups likely to provoke anger among socially conservative voters.

In this case, the chain of association is particularly weak.

Hamilton founded a church. That church sponsored a major Pride festival. The festival included numerous organisations and performers. One group associated with queer Pride activism was the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

Vance then transformed those separate facts into an accusation that Hamilton supported a “devil-worshipping” hate group.

That may be effective culture-war rhetoric, but it is not an accurate account of what happened.

Religious Satire Is Not Devil Worship

The Sisters’ imagery is intentionally provocative.

Their members reclaim religious titles and clothing to challenge institutions that have historically condemned LGBTQ+ identities and relationships.

People are free to criticise that approach or consider it offensive.

Political leaders are equally entitled to debate whether churches should sponsor Pride events.

But factual criticism requires accurately naming the organisation, describing its activities and explaining what occurred at the Dodgers game.

Vance did none of those things.

Instead, he presented queer satire as satanic worship, transformed a community award into a supposed religious ceremony and used Pride sponsorship to question the Christianity of a political opponent.

For the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, outrage is hardly unfamiliar territory.

The movement has spent nearly five decades confronting exactly this kind of shame, fear and moral panic — usually while wearing considerably better outfits than the politicians attacking it.