Founded in San Francisco in 1979, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence emerged from a desire to combine activism and fun, bringing a subversive and satirical nature to queer protest. 

The organisation owes its roots to drag. An Iowa-based drag troupe called The Sugar Plum Fairies borrowed nuns’ habits for their performances in the ’70s. 

When some of the group moved to San Francisco, they brought their habits with them and performed a cheer routine at a Gay Softball League game. Realising their capacity to help their community, they decided to form a group.

When the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence order was formalised, they stepped up their social activism in the 1980s, supporting protests, vigils, and hosting AIDS fundraisers, all while donning their iconic nun’s habits. 

The four founders, Sister Viscious PHB (Ken Bunch), Reverend Mother (Bill Graham), Sister Missionary Positon (Fred Brungard), and Sister Hysterectoria (Edmund Garron), created the organisation’s mission statement: “to promulgate universal joy, expiate stigmatic guilt and serve the community”. 

The second order was founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1980, and now the Sisters have spread across the globe, with orders established in the UK, Canada, Switzerland, France, Germany, and other countries. 

A Sisters member told Folklife, “We do a lot of work in the community that would originally have been done by a religious order. During the AIDS crisis, so many people were being turned away by their churches, turned away by their families”. 

The nonprofit emerged as a way to subvert the Christian far-right, and remains a vital place for community and advocacy in the areas it serves. 

Today, the Sisters are still strong on community activism. Combining drag and religious imagery to advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, particularly in the US, the Sisters remain advocates for social justice. 

The Sisters’ Grant Fund, each year, goes towards supporting organisations and projects “providing direct services to under-served communities”. They have donated to queer history projects, youth-led queer and trans magazines, organisations providing gender-affirming peer support, and Pride festivals. 

In August of this year, the Sydney order of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was featured in an Australian documentary, Old Habits, chronicling the wonderful history of the Sisters. The charity’s reach is undeniable.

As the organisation describes, they aim to use “humor and irreverent wit to expose the forces of bigotry, complacency and guilt that chain the human spirit.”