Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams spoke out for the first time following his statement where he slammed the Los Angeles Dodgers for honoring drag queens dressed up as nuns during its Pride Night.
In an exclusive interview with EWTN News In Depth, Williams, who refers to himself as a devout Catholic, explained why he felt compelled to speak out publicly about the controversy surrounding the so-called “drag nuns.”
“It had to be said, we cannot stand idly by while Our Lord gets mocked,” Williams told EWTN reporter Colm Flynn.
Williams also reflected on his now-viral tweet, which has since garnered over 19 million views, calling out the Dodgers for its decision to reinvite the group Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and award them with the Community Service Award during the team’s Pride Night, per Fox News.
He shared:
“Before I hit send, you try to do as much research as you can. You see the horrific videos that were posted of them. You read about what they’re trying to do. These things that are deeply offensive to us. And then you see that, well, they’re doing these things, they’re raising money for this that and the other. They’ve been doing it for over 30 years. But there’s a point where the Dodgers reinvited them after knowing very well what they’ve been doing for the last 30 years.”
Williams continued, “At that point, I looked at the Dodgers’ fan code of conduct and it said, ‘You cannot wear anything or say anything that goes against anybody’s age, gender, creed, religion.’ At that point, it was like this is going against their code of conduct.”
Furthermore, he called the team’s endorsment of the group “a blatant anti-Catholic message that they’re sending, regardless of how much good they’ve been doing in their community.”
“When I saw how deeply offensive it was — doing awful things to the cross — it became a point where these negatives, they shouldn’t be honored, and they shouldn’t mock a certain group,” Williams added.
He explained why the group itself is problematic in relation to his Catholic faith.
“I think anyone with two eyes and a brain, they’re mocking the religious habits of nuns. They’re mocking what we hold most deeply, and our core convictions, they’re blatantly mocking it,” Williams added.
In a tweet on May 30, Williams petitioned for “fellow Catholics to reconsider their support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur.”
“I know I am not alone in my frustration, hurt, and disappointment about this situation. As Catholics, we look to Jesus Christ and the way He was treated and we realize that any suffering in this world unites us to Him in the next,” Williams stated.
On June 12, Archbishop José H. Gomez of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles extended an invitation to all Catholics “to stand together in prayer, following the Dodgers’ plans to honor the group,” per the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (USCCB)
“It has been heartening to see so many faithful Catholics and others of good will stand up to say that what this group does is wrong, and it is wrong to honor them. We call on Catholics to pray the Litany of the Sacred Heart on June 16, offering this prayer as an act of reparation for the blasphemies against our Lord we see in our culture today,” the invitation reads.
