Imagine a religious habit, complete with a veil, tunic and rosary. Then throw in glitter, drag makeup and false eyelashes, and you've got Spokane's newest queer nuns: the Spokane Falls Sisters, founders of the Abbey of the Children of the Sun, a mission status house of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
"We're not mocking any religion," says Beau Lucas, known as Guard Duke Kendoit of the Spokane Falls Sisters. "You see the [Catholic] nuns, they go out and they do work in the community, right? We're doing the same thing."
Not a member of any religious order, the Spokane Falls Sisters are four members of the LGBTQ+ community who have heard and heeded a calling to serve the marginalized in Spokane, advocate for safe sex practices and celebrate living life to the fullest. They are on their way to becoming a "fully professed" house of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a nonprofit founded in San Francisco in 1979 by a few queer men with some retired Catholic nuns' habits.
The mission of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is to "promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt," according to its online "sistory." Their early work in San Francisco included bingo benefits for gay Cuban immigrants and condom-themed parade floats promoting AIDS awareness.
The Spokane Falls Sisters founded their abbey last year on Dec. 1, recognized as World AIDS Day. Their work so far has included helping throw Odyssey Youth Movement's queer prom, feeding the homeless and spreading safe sex awareness alongside SAN (formerly the Spokane AIDS Network).
The Sisters' reference to religion is more than skin deep. Besides attire, the entire organization is similar to that of a religious order. Just as a Catholic nun goes through stages of discernment from postulant to novitiate to final vows, people seeking to join the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence must be aspirants first, then complete "mission" status before becoming a "fully professed" house.
Riffing off traditional religious imagery is as intentional as it is provocative. On the one hand, the Sisters see themselves doing the same works of charity and mercy that other nuns do. But their borderline irreverence seeks to free themselves and others from past religious trauma, and shock onlookers into reimagining what love looks like.
"We are poking the bear, because a lot of queer youth and a lot of queer adults have been stigmatized by religion," says Augie Martinez, known as Sister Anita Selma Tacos. "So what we do is we help get rid of that. Because if we can look how we look but we're out here spreading love, joy and happiness — that's what our mission is. So it's kind of a poke, but not in a disrespectful way. We create waves, but we do it correctly."
Indulgence is quite the opposite of asceticism, the kind of self-disciplined life that nuns and monks typically choose. But for the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, uninhibited celebration is at the heart of everything they do.
"If a 94-year-old woman was asked, 'What would you do over in life?' she would say something like, 'Do it now,'" Sister Anita says. "If you're going to indulge in life, indulge in life and perpetually have fun with it. But be safe about it. So the mission of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is to live life to the fullest, have fun and be smart about it."
The group's commitment to smart choices doesn't start and end with safe sex. The Spokane Falls Sisters are committed to walking alongside those dealing with addiction or houselessness, not just because of their commitment to kindness, but because of their own personal experiences.
"One thing that's unique about us is that we're all in recovery from drugs and alcohol," says Kimberly Campbell, known as Sister Reign BoDacious. "We take care of ourselves, and then we meet people where they're at. We say, 'This is who we are.' Because it's not something that we need to hide. We're not ashamed of it."
Openness and vulnerability are the keys to courage, joy and acceptance, the Sisters preach. Everyone needs the support and belief of the community around them, and the Sisters want to be available to anyone who needs them. One of their next service ideas is a street sweeping initiative that helps clean sidewalks to make them more hospitable to anyone passing through.
"If our community sees that, maybe instead of passing judgment, it'll turn an eye to say, 'How can I be of service?'" Sister Anita says. "Just being a nun — a Catholic nun or a Buddhist nun or a queer nun — it's in the work that we do. A real nun goes out into the community and dark, desolate areas. So will we." ♦