My Vows as a Toronto Sister of Perpetual Indulgence
Taken in late 1983 and never renounced
- # I vow to offer all my fellow sisters sisterly love, cooperation and understanding;
- # I vow to forsake all appearance of poverty so that my comrade sisters won’t have to buy me drinks at The Barn;
- # I vow to keep my habit clean, my bib and cornice ever-starched and on the ready, and my accessories close at hand for all convent rites;
- # I vow to take an active role in theological discussions and disputations of the Order, and to abide by the Holy Decisions reached by consensus;
- # I vow to pass on to all Sisters any juicy gossip I may hear concerning anyone of interest in the Gay Community;
- # I vow to uphold the Spirit of Stonewall, the Destruction of the Closet, and the Celebration of the Body, which bourgeois society has banished to the Valley of Shame;
- # I vow to keep my soul pure by getting regular VD checkups;
- # I dedicate my spirit to the exploration of love in all its numberless manifestations;
- # I consecrate my being to the delights of sensual and sexual liberation;
- # I undertake to explore the aspects of my desire for frolic and adornment;
Notes
# The above vows are from a specific Order and reflect a specific place and time. The Barn closed some years ago and membership in current houses of Perpetual Indulgence are open to queer people of all permutations.
# The core Perpetual Indulgence values- the promulgation of universal joy and the expiation of stigmatic guilt- remain unchanged.