Term
| Who are the four founders of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence? |
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Definition
Reverend Mother (Bill Graham)
Sr. Vicious Power Hungry Bitch (Ken Bunch)
Sr. Missionary Position (Fred Brungard)
Sr. Hysterectoria-Agnes (Edmund Garron) |
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Term
| When did The Sisters first manifest to the world? |
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Definition
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Term
| What was the first fundraiser produced by The Sisters? |
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Definition
| In October of 1980, San Francisco saw its first fundraiser with Sisterly flair: a bingo/disco benefit for gay Cuban refugees at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC). |
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Term
| In what city was The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence founded? |
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Definition
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Term
| Where did the original nun's habits used by the founding Sisters originate? |
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Definition
| In Iowa, a convent of Roman Catholic nuns lent some retired habits to The Sugar Plum Fairies performing their version of The Sound of Music. |
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Term
| What is the group's mission statement? |
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Definition
| To promulgate universal joy and expiate stigmatic guilt. |
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Term
| Which Sister created the logo? |
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Definition
| Sister Secuba, a calligrapher, created the logo and the original banner under which the Sisters made their first public appearance. |
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Term
| Once the group solidified, who designed the first habits? |
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Definition
| Sister Hysterectoria designed the first habits after a Flemish 14th century ladies-in-waiting and French cloister's wimple, and through a city grant, commissioned the first set of habits and "Ear Brassieres." |
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Term
| From what specific early group did The Sisters draw additional early members? |
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Definition
| The Radical Faeries. In the fall of 1979, Sister Hysterectoria (Edmund Garron) and Reverend Mother (Bill Graham) went to the first International Faerie gathering and encountered even more men with the calling. |
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Term
| At which event in 1980 did The Sisters' appearance garner widespread press coverage? |
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Definition
| During the Three Mile Island Protest in March, The Sisters performed their "Rosary in Time of Nuclear Peril," including the ever-popular pompon routine. This small group hit big, making every paper and gossip channel immediately |
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Term
| The second SPI order was founded where? |
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Definition
| Mother Inferior in Sydney, Australia founded the second SPI Order in the world in 1980. |
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Term
| In 1981, the 3rd order of SPI was founded where? |
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Definition
| In 1981, the third SPI Order was founded in Toronto, Canada. |
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Term
| Who did the Sisters challenge to a baseball game in 1981? |
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Definition
| The SF Gay Men's Chorus. The Sisters won! |
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Term
| he Sisters produced the world's first fundraiser benefit for an AIDS organization. What was it? |
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Definition
| It was a dog show on Castro Street with the recording artist Sylvester serving as a judge. |
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Term
| In 1982, what safer sex pamphlet did the Sisters create? |
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Definition
| Registered nurses Sister Florence Nightmare and Sister Roz Erection joined with a team of Sisters and medical professionals to create Play Fair!, the first safer sex pamphlet anywhere in the world to use plain sex-positive language, practical advice, and humor. |
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Term
| 1982, which Sister ran for City Supervisor in San Francisco? |
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Definition
| Sister Boom Boom ran under the 'Nun of the Above' ticket in the race for Supervisor of San Francisco. |
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Term
| In what year did the Sisters orchestrate the first AIDS Candlelight Vigil? |
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Definition
| The first AIDS Candlelight vigil in 1983 was orchestrated by the Sisters, led by the banner "Fighting for our Lives," which was painted on her apartment floor by Sister Vicious PHB. |
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Term
| Which Sister became the "AIDS Poster Boy" by appearing on the cover of Newsweek? |
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Definition
Sister Florence Nightmare, an HIV positive health care professional, published "Well and Good," in the Sentinel, combining observations of a man living with AIDS and practical insights of a medical professional.
The article, about gays and AIDS, was the first time that the topics were handled in a fairly unbiased manner and that the entire nation was able to come face to face with AIDS. |
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Term
| Where was the fourth order of SPI founded? |
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Definition
| The Seattle Sisters, founded by Mother Theresa Nervina. |
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Term
| What dubious achievement did the SPI earn during the Pope's visit to San Francisco in 1987? |
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Definition
| Being placed on the Papal List of Heretics. |
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Term
| How did SPI help the NAMES Quilt Project in 1988? |
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Definition
| A basketball event called "Rally 'Round the Quilt" between the gay women's and men's basketball teams that raised $5,400. |
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Term
| How did the SPI celebrate their 10th anniversary and what legacy did it engender? |
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Definition
| For their 10th anniversary, the Sisters threw a huge gala event, Sistericus, in Club Townsend which never had a queer event till then, and which subsequently became the queer dance institutions "Pleasuredome" and "Universe". |
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Term
| Which organizations did the 10th anniversary SPI Gala benefit? |
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Definition
| Project Open Hand and AIDS Emergency Fund |
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Term
| How did SPI assist San Francisco after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake? |
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Definition
| During Halloween, Sister Vicious PHB called her fellow nuns and took to the streets of the Castro with donation buckets. All of the money collected was donated to The Mayor's Earthquake Disaster Relief Fund. |
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Term
| SPI began what San Francisco street fair tradition? |
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Definition
| The Sisters were the first group to ever collect donations at the entrances to street festivals. |
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Term
| The "Angels in Whiteface" art exhibit was a collaboration between SPI and what artist? |
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Definition
| Artist Thomasina DeMaio approached the Sisters stating that she wanted to create portraits of the nuns in paint and clay. Months and months of hard work culminated in a large art exhibit performance art piece in June, "Angels In Whiteface," |
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Term
| In 1990, which San Francisco event did the Sisters began orchestrating for the next four years? |
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Definition
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Term
| Which program involved distributing whistles and window signs to curb street violence and denote safe places to run should one be attacked? |
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Definition
| Sister Roma! Roma! introduced her STOP the Violence Campaign in reaction to the rise of violence in the streets, especially hate crimes. A window placard system was devised to mark safe homes to run to in the instance of an attack or the threat of an attack. The Order distributed window signs and whistles in the various neighborhoods and districts of the city as well as on college campuses. |
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Term
| When Gov. Pete Wilson vetoed the Gay Rights Bill in 1991, how did two nameless nuns respond? |
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Definition
| The resulting riot at the State Building in San Francisco featured a photo of the back of 2 nuns ramming a barricade thru the glass doors of the building. |
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Term
| Sisters Bufadora and Flatulina Grande are known for forming what offshoot organization? |
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Definition
| Sisters Bufadora and Flatulina Grande lead the forming of the Queer Army and enlisted the energy of angry people for the Holy Wars against homophobia in the church and the government. |
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Term
| On Valentine's Day in 1992, what did the Queer Army do? |
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Definition
| One of the first actions of our pink-camouflaged army was to distribute condoms at USF, a Catholic university, on February 14. The campus had already denied permission for this to occur. Police escorted Sisters off campus and held the student collaborators on charges. |
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Term
| During the demonstration at the Capitol Christian Center in Sacramento, what unexpected event occurred? |
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Definition
One choir member, a teenager, came and joined the demonstration, outing himself in the process.
Sister Lost and Found, as he was later named, came to the Sisters for help after both his church and his family rejected him. Tragically the State of Nebraska forced him back to a foster home despite his wishes to stay with his current gay fathers. He took his own life rather than live in foster care. |
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Term
| With which two well-known street fairs did the Sisters partner with as door divas in 1992? |
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Definition
| The Sisters start one of the sexiest alliances by working at the Folsom Street Fair and Up Your Alley Fair helping the organizers by acting as door divas for two of California's largest events and probably the worlds largest fetish events. Folsom Street Fair and Up Your Alley Fair attracts ten of thousands of participants and raises thousands for charity in the process. |
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Term
| At the Creating Change Conference in 1993, for which queer group did the Sisters demand inclusion? |
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Definition
| Sisters attended the Creating Change Conference in Los Angeles demanding the inclusion of Transgender issues and speakers in the March On Washington and Stonewall 25th Anniversary in New York. This is the first time anyone had demanded Transgender inclusion. |
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Term
| During the March on Washington in 1993, how did the Sisters disobey the event organizers? |
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Definition
| The 1993 March On Washington officially discouraged drag so we flew to DC in drag and marched in drag with pride. In contrast to the organizers, the crowds couldn’t get enough! |
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Term
| When the official Halloween celebration in The Castro moved to Civic Center, what charitable event did the Sisters produce? |
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Definition
| The Sisters insisted on having a proper celebration, HallowQueen, a wonderful costume-mandatory dance/cabaret which raised over $6,000 for a handful of charities. |
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