Drag-Queen Nuns Hold Easter Party By MICHELLE LOCKE .c The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Fishnet was big, heels were high and emotions ran deep as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence -- drag queens dressed as nuns -- threw a 20th anniversary bash here Sunday despite criticism from Roman Catholics that their rituals smacked of heresy. The typically irreverent street party -- which featured bands, Easter bonnets and a ``Hunky Jesus'' beauty contest -- infuriated church officials, who said holding the parody on Easter Sunday was like neo-Nazis partying on Passover. But supporters of the roughly 30 sisters -- a group of faux nuns well-known for shimmying in Spandex to raise money for charity -- said they deserved to celebrate their anniversary. The sisters say they formed on Easter Sunday, 1979. ``The message of Easter is one of resurrection,'' said Tom Ammiano, the president of the city's Board of Supervisors. ``I think that it's time in San Francisco that we resurrect that spirit of coexistence that has existed for the past 20 years.'' Ammiano spoke to a crowd of thousands who gathered under sunny skies in San Francisco's predominately gay Castro District for the event. The board found itself dropped into a debate over the sisters after approving a permit that closed a city block for the party. ``City government has gone out of its way to associate itself with this ridicule and blasphemy,'' Archbishop William Levada wrote Friday in Catholic San Francisco, a church newspaper. Some officials, including Mayor Willie Brown, then tried to rescind the permit. It didn't work, but Ammiano is expected to meet with Levada in a peace talk of sorts. No protesters attended the party. ``Everyone is in his or her own neighborhood celebrating as he or she may choose,'' said Supervisor Mark Leno. ``And that certainly is what San Francisco is all about. We've got room for everybody.''
