Two gay men wearing denim overalls, red bandanas and straw cowboy hats meet and embrace. “Are you on your way to the bingo game?” one asks the other. By the looks of their giddy-up Western wear, both will be attending October's Beverly Hillbilly-themed Revival Bingo game thrown by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.

If you’ve been living in San Francisco and never had a run-in with these nuns in drag, then you really can’t call yourself a true San Franciscan. They're a group of mostly gay men dressed in outrageous habits who minister to community service, raise funds for the needy and educate the public about tolerance, STDs and human rights.

While they're not a religious organization, many of the Sisters' practices are borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church, whose roots can be traced back to pagan customs. Their spirituality is less about Sunday attendance and more about self-empowerment dressed in radical fairyism. “We vowed to spread joy, absolve guilt and service the community,” Sister Tilly Comes Again says. “Our vows in no way include celibacy or abstinence in any form.”

Despite their good deeds, not everyone sees these nuns as the fairy godmothers they are. Many Catholic organizations and the Archdiocese of San Francisco believe them to be anti-Catholic.

The group sprouted out of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1979 when a small group of gay men decided to borrow retired Catholic nun habits to perform a theater reproduction of “The Sound of Music.” The hills weren’t so alive in Cedar Rapids, so the founding mothers officially came out in San Francisco on Easter weekend. For their first appearance, Sister Hysterectoria, Sister Vicious Power Hungry Bitch, Sister Secuba and Reverend Mother walked through city streets to a nude beach, where they hoped to challenge the world, not perform a queer rendition of the play. The Sisters, dressed in traditional nun habits, stirred the interest of the nudies.

These first nuns decided to go out in habit when they noticed that everyone in the gay community was starting to look alike, according to Sister Gina Tonic, who joined the Order seven years ago. Leather pants, moustaches and “come fuck me” slogan T-shirts had become staples of the gay community. The Sisters used habits to say that not all gay men have to fit a mold.

But they're not just fairies frolicking around San Francisco. Since the early days, the organization’s members have opened chapters in Sydney, London, Paris and other cities across the globe. They have put on numerous fundraisers and events, increased AIDS/STD awareness and one even ran for supervisor of San Francisco.

“The beautiful thing about the Sisters is the opportunity to pick and choose from a menu of different things when we have the free time,” Sister Gina says of the large San Francisco Order. “We’re involved with the AIDS Emergency Fund but there are others into sports, grief counseling—it’s nice that we can all bring our own interests to the Order.” In addition to their community service work, the Sisters expiate guilt and forgive sins.

If you can’t afford a “get out of hell free” card from the Catholic Church, just locate a Sister on the street and stand in her presence. According to their Web site, “A ‘perpetual indulgence’ is an indulgence that absolves you of your sins forever. No matter how much you sin now, or in the future, you’re taken care of.” And following their own example, the Sisters themselves do not deny their own desires, as one can easily see by attending one of their planned events.

So who goes to an event thrown by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence? It's definitely not the normal crowd you’d expect standing outside of a church. But this isn’t just any church. The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco, which hosts the Sisters' monthly bingo game, is a “house of prayer for all people. A home for queer spirituality,” according to mccsf.org.

Castro’s finest form a long line at the door awaiting entry to the sure-to-be-flamboyant soirée. “Did Sister Tilly go down 18th Street and put on a jock strap to get people here?” Sister Barbie asks as she scans the large crowd.

Flashy nuns in geisha inspired makeup, full rodeo skirts and wimples (ear brassieres) atop their heads converse with the wannabe cowboys in line. “Virgins. Are there any virgins here tonight?” one of the sisters yells and the first-timers raise their hands. A novice nun, or Sister in the making, stands on the side elegantly smoking a slim, white chick cigarette. A pigtail-clad aspirant nun in a frayed miniskirt and plaid button-down shirt holds a straw basket on one arm and gay porn on the other. She resembles Laura from “Little House on the Prairie,” only with an over-exposed navel and a basket filled with raffle tickets and dirty flicks. “We can’t deny the sacred clowns that we are,” Sister Gina says, referring to their dress and makeup.

It’s a full house in the rainbow flag-adorned church and two men do the hoe-down before the games begin. There’s country music in the background and under the bright lights of the room, it’s apparent that not everyone is queer. The attendees are gay, straight, young, old and even pregnant. The event begins with a burlesque peep show as “The Stripper” plays loudly in the background. Aspirant Polly Ism allows one of the nuns to pull down his denim overalls, exposing his tattooed backside. The pre-show concludes as the gay nuns pose in colorful bathing suits that barely hide their ass bulges.

This isn't just a good ol’ wholesome grandma-esque bingo game, nor an event for flashy drags to strut their stuff. Bingo night serves a purpose. “The Sisters' Bingo has raised well over $44,000 for nonprofits and scholarships over the past five years. Revival Bingo is a winning combination; even the losers agree," Treasurer Sister Roxanne Roles says on their Web site.

The Sisters have been at the forefront of the fight against AIDS by raising money, educating on safe sex and even visiting the bedsides of the sick. Every year they promote and help their community in a special way. “Everybody brings their own talents into the group,” Sister Constance Craving of the Holy Desire says. “It’s a good way for individuals to help us not stagnate the Order.”

Like their traditional counterparts, Catholic nuns, nearly all the Sisters felt a genuine calling to do this work. “I like the short skirts,” Sister Constance says only half kidding. Whether it's ministerial training, animal activism or women's rights, the Sisters aim to serve the community in very different ways.

With stunts they pulled in 2003’s Pride Parade, using slogans like “We gotta give ‘em Pope,” and displaying their own Pope Dementia in a cage trying to fondle a young follower, the Sisters are finding humorous and, to some, insulting ways to highlight current political events. “We also had a float with George Bush riding a Dick Cheney Rocket,” Sister Constance says laughing. “It’s about shining a light on specific issues.” The Sisters consider their antics harmless eye-openers. “Honey, I’m a 275-pound, 6’3’’ man that goes out in a cocktail dress. Do you think I’m serious? It’s a joke,” Sister Gina says about their gimmicks.

Because of their stunts and ability to laugh at themselves and others, some see these nuns as anything but saintly. Depending on the source, the Sisters are either viewed as anti-Catholic or accepting of all religions. In 1999, on the 20th anniversary of the Sisters' founding, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors permitted the group to celebrate on a closed-off street in the Castro. The anniversary fell on Easter weekend and their antics outraged many political Catholic groups. They are a “deliberate insult to the church,” church spokesman Maurice Healy said in an article after the incident.

In a response to the celebration, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, an organization that defends religious freedom and free speech for Catholics, called for all Catholics to boycott San Francisco. “Our objection to the ‘Sisters’ does not center on men dressing as nuns: it centers on their obscene assaults on the Eucharist, the very nucleus of Catholicism. That is why we are outraged,” William A. Donohue, the league's president, wrote in an ad that ran in the “San Francisco Chronicle.”

The Sisters, however, have a response to accusations of Catholic bashing. “I consider people misinformed,” Sister Gina says. “They just don’t know what we’re doing.”

Sister Gina grew up Catholic and thinks that nuns are powerful, glamorous women with fabulous habits. “A Catholic sister once said to me ‘I’m a real nun,’” she says. “I said to her, 'Well you know what, Sister, so am I. I serve the community and I wear a habit. I just take more time to get ready.' By the end of that night she gave me a hug and a kiss goodbye.”