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by Melissa M. Wilcox (Author)
An engaging look into the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, queer activists devoted to social justice
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence make up an unlikely order of nuns. Self-described as "twenty-first century queer nuns," the Sisters began in 1979 when three bored gay men donned retired Roman Catholic nuns' habits and went for a stroll through San Francisco's gay Castro district. The stunned and delighted responses they received prompted these already-seasoned activists to consider whether the habits might have some use in social justice work, and within a year they had constituted the new order. Today, with more than 83 houses on four different continents, the Sisters offer health outreach, support, and, at times, protest on behalf of queer communities.
Author Biography
Melissa Wilcox is Professor and Holstein Family and Community Chair of Religious Studies at the University of California Riverside. She is author Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism, and Serious Parody (NYU Press, 2018), Coming Out in Christianity: Religion, Identity, and Community (Indiana University Press, 2003); Sexuality and the World's Religions (ABC-CLIO, 2003); Queer Women and Religious Individualism (Indiana University Press, 2009); and Queer Religiosities: An Introduction to Queer and Transgender Studies in Religion (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2020).
