JD Vance conjures the devil in false attack on LGBTQ+ charity during Kansas speech

Vice President JD Vance reached for satanic panic Monday while campaigning in Kansas, falsely describing the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence as devil worshipers and mangling the group’s name in the process.Vance appeared at a MAGA Inc.-organized rally at Webco Manufacturing in Olathe to support Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, who faces the Rev. Adam Hamilton, a prominent United Methodist pastor and Democrat, in November. State Senate President Ty Masterson, the Republican nominee for governor, also attended, according to the Kansas Reflector.Vance attacked Hamilton because Resurrection, the church Hamilton founded, was among dozens of sponsors of Kansas City PrideFest.Related: JD Vance really wants you to know he's 'not gay' while lying about transgender youthHamilton “proudly supported a drag group called Our Ladies of Perpetual Indulgence,” Vance claimed. No organization by that name exists. He apparently meant the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, the 47-year-old volunteer network of queer and transgender nuns.Vance called the Sisters “the devil worshiping group that was saying special blessings before LA Dodgers games” and an “anti-Christian hate group.”Practically every element of that description was false or unsupported.The Sisters do not worship the devil. Their stated mission is community service, human rights advocacy, spiritual outreach, and combating shame and bigotry through humor. The organization has raised money for community nonprofits and became an early provider of sex-positive safer-sex information during the AIDS crisis.The Dodgers did not invite the Sisters to bless baseball games. The team honored the Los Angeles chapter with a Community Hero Award before its June 16, 2023, Pride Night game, recognizing its charitable work. Catholic leaders and conservative politicians opposed the honor because the Sisters satirize Catholic imagery — criticism Vance inflated into a tale of devil worship.Related: How JD Vance went from think