The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence,Inc.

Unfinished History

Founded on April 14,1979, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are an order of nuns of all genders, sexualities, and spiritualities; who take vows to promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt. On that day Ken Bunch, Fred Brungard, and Bruce Golden donned the habit and ventured forth into the Castro from their home at 272 Dolores St. to challenge the "clone" mentality which had become so pervasive in the gay community. This random act of artistic provocation led others to take their vows and don the habit, so that by 1981, San Francisco had 18 Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and a missionary order in Sydney, Australia. By the end of 2010, the Order in San Francisco had 86 active nuns and was joined by orders throughout the U.S., as well as, in Europe, South America, and Australia.

Sisters everywhere work for the betterment of the communities they serve. They achieve this through raising funds for charities, educating the public on social issues, raising political consciousness, confronting attacks on queer people, and putting smiles on peoples' faces. The Sisters mix facts and levity, truths and theater to raise our communities in all aspects of their lives. While often being vilified by some who claim spiritual superiority, the Sisters have raised and given away more than $1,000,000 to a variety of causes. The Order has given grants to everyone from gay Cuban refugees abandoned in the Castro by their sponsoring churches to Catholic charities from around the country to emergency funds for people with AIDS and breast cancer.

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in full regalia at a parade.

A Sister of Perpetual Indulgence

Photo: David Green

"Dedicated to the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt."

A gang of gay men who "consider themselves a bonafide religious order... We are very much dedicated to pre-Christian pansexual traditional religions, the nature-loving, sex-loving, pleasure-loving religions of the earth and that people celebrated long before patriarchal Christianity came along and started burning witches at the stake. Our goal is the re-liberation of sexuality based on real joy and sensuality, not fraught with guilt and games. We are joyous pagans and believe in the sanctity of the earth."

Some of the Sisters: Sister Homo Fellatio, Sister Missionary Position, Sister Marie Ever-Ready, Sr. Sensible Shoes, Sr. Marry Rich, Sr. Loganberry Frost, Sr. Boom Boom, Sister Quaalude Conduct, Sister Stigmata, Sister Banana Nut Bread, Sr. Sleeze, Sr. Rosanna Hosanna Fellabella, and more.

At a memorial service for Harvey Milk they used the traditional litany prayer form. They chanted, "let us deliver ourselves," interspersed with such phrases as "from the hatred of patriarchal religions," "from the Ku Klux Klan and Cops for Christ," "from greedy speculators," "from the two faces of [then] Mayor Dianne Feinstein."

--Burr Snider, SF Examiner, Sept. 23, 1981

The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

"... The fundamentalists--a group called S.O.S.-- are here on a crusade to drive the devil from Sodom, and the gays--plus the feminists, pro-abortionists, sexual anarchists, radical lesbians and various free-speech/free sex/free thought outfits--are here to tell them to go to hell--don't pass GO, don't collect 200 souls . . . a sort of entropy has set in . . . but uh-oh . . . The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, honey, have made the scene. Yes, it's the Sisters, San Francisco's sweetest street guerrillas, charging into the Square from the Stockton Street side in all their mock ecclesiastical-cum-high slut glory. A great unified howl of recognition goes up and a circle forms around their procession as the Sisters go dancing and chanting around Union Square, looking for all the world like as if somebody slipped some acid in the communion wine. The Sisters are simply the wildest, most outrageous irreligious vision you ever saw, an order of gay male glitter nuns . . . in habits and high heels, flashing dazzling smiles and sly good humor, oozing out miles of vamp and camp. Nobody ever told the Bible people they'd run into something like this on the road to Damascus."

A less traditional Sister of Perpetual Indulgence

Two Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence kick back.

An almost geisha-like Sister of Perpetual Indulgence

Photos: David Green

Sisters attending the unveiling of Mona Caron's Market Street Railway mural where they are immortalized.

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