Alison Bechdel Has Been Canonised By The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

In true theatrical style, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence made a surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con to canonise legendary cartoonist Alison Bechdel — complete with pomp, habit, and a standing ovation.

Interrupting the Out in Comics panel — which is the longest-running LGBTQIA+ panel in Comic-Con history — the San Francisco chapter of the Sisters burst in to “ambush-canonise” Bechdel, presenting her with a certificate and formally inducting her as a Saint of the order.

Her new saint name? Saint Verisimilitudinous, Pundit of Profundity, Maestro of Mirth, and a Saint to Watch Out For.

Comic-Con attendees reportedly erupted into applause as the honour was announced. The moment was later shared by the Sisters on Instagram with the caption, “Nobody expects the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence!”

 

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Bechdel joins a long line of queer icons, cultural figures and allies who have been canonised by the Sisters since the 1980s, including celebrities, community advocates, activists, and more:

• Alan Cumming – Saint Starseed of the Second Cumming, Proud Protector of Foreskins, Queen of Queer Representation on Stage, Screen, and All Media
• Thomas Higgins, a gay activist who famously threw a pie in anti-gay preacher Anita Bryant’s face in 1977 — Saint Banana Cream Comeuppance, Patron Saint of Slapstick Justice
• Billy Porter — Saint Realness the Resplendent, Inimitable Icon of Passion & Perspicacity Serving Up Truth, Love, Beauty and Joy
• Stormy Daniels — Saint Tempestuous, Eye of the Hurricane of Truth and Stormer of the Barricades of Intolerance
• Elliott Page — Saint Pageboy, Transcendent Trailblazer of Truth & Insightful Exemplar of Authentic Identity.

The honour is symbolic, cheeky and celebratory, bestowed upon individuals whose work has uplifted LGBTQIA+ communities with wit, creativity, representation and justice.

 

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Alison Bechdel: A Saint to Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel has been shaping queer culture and feminist practice for more than four decades.

She first rose to fame with her long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, which chronicled the lives of a group of lesbian friends navigating love, politics and identity from the 1980s onwards. The strip became a cultural touchstone as one of the first widely published representations of queer women’s lives.

Her landmark 2006 graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic cemented her reputation as a singular voice in both comics and queer storytelling, and was later adapted into a Tony Award–winning Broadway musical. The memoir explores Bechdel’s relationship with her closeted gay father, layered with literary references and stark emotional insight.

Of course, even people unfamiliar with her work might recognise her name thanks to the Bechdel Test, a pop-culture staple used to assess the representation of women in film and television. The test asks whether a film includes at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Simple as it sounds, the test continues to be referenced ever since its creation in 1985 — probably because still to this day, a shocking number of films still manage to fail that basic criteria.

The icons that are the global Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

Founded in 1979 in San Francisco, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are a stunningly flamboyant, activist-driven order of queer nuns who use humour, drag and public performance to fight for social justice, raise funds for LGBTQIA+ causes, and just generally spread joy.

While they began as a form of protest and satire during the HIV/AIDS crisis, the Sisters have grown into a beloved global organisation with chapters in cities all over the world — including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Dressed in nun-inspired regalia with glittering face paint and towering headpieces, the Sisters blend camp with compassion, offering both spiritual uplift and cheeky irreverence.

Each chapter creates community rituals, fundraises for local causes, and continues the work of “expiating stigmatic guilt” while promoting joy, love and visibility for LGBTQIA+ people.