They call themselves “The Boston Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.” The group is made up of men who dress up not only in women’s clothing but in nuns’ habits. Their slogan — “Go forth and sin some more” — openly mocks the Bible verse (John 8:11), in which Jesus tells an adulterous woman to “go forth and sin no more.”
But the group crossed a bridge too far when it appeared at the Boston Public Library June 29 to mark the end of “Pride Month” with a “Drag Queen Story Time” event, during which members read to children between the ages of two and ten.
The library’s first mistake was sanctioning such an event, but their second — and some might say more egregious — mistake, at least from a publicity angle, was to post a notice about the reading on its Facebook page.
The criticism since has been fierce and unrelenting.
The Christian Broadcasting Network reports that among those who spoke out was a member of academe, Prof. Robert P. George, who teaches jurisprudence at Princeton and frequently lectures at Harvard. CBN quotes George as asking rhetorically:
Is there an honorable liberal anywhere in this country who will speak out against the #antiCatholic bigotry on display here? Imagine the chorus of outrage from liberals … were it #Islam and its teachings, symbols, and practices being mocked.
Other commenters reacted to the age-inappropriateness of the event.
For its part, the Boston Public Library released a statement Wednesday that read:
Boston Public Library reviews all feedback and comments we receive on our programming, which helps to inform future program selection for our patrons.
