Glittering Grace

“Who’s got the clown white?” someone asks as a fury of makeup, feathers, glitter, chiffon, and body pads explode while the Fourth City Sisters are joyfully doing a quick change between two community events on the same day, demonstrating how they adapt to fill the roles needed in the LGBTQ+ community. “Is there a limit on glitter?” one asks. “The limit does not exist!” several others respond while giggling.

The Sisters just left a university luncheon, celebrating graduating students from the LGBTQ+ community and are now preparing for an underwear fashion show fundraiser for Pride St. Louis.

The House’s name, “Fourth City” is a nod to St. Louis’ iconic history, when the city was the nation’s fourth largest. “It’s an obscure nickname, but not only does it touch on the city’s history, it also symbolizes the fourth incarnation of the Sisters in St. Louis,” says Sister Anastasia “Stasia” Intervention, Prioress, who defines their organization as “A House of Action.”

“We engage in service to our community through volunteer work, fundraising, bar ministry, and just overall spreading joy and love to combat the pain, suffering, and stigma that exists in the world,” Sister Stasia says. “Our Drag Story Hour, college collaboration and connection, and donation drive for Metro Trans Umbrella Group have been projects we have been involved with.”

“One of the more subtle, but powerful, ways we support the community is through ministry of presence,” Sister Pattie O’Pounder says. “Manifesting in public spaces serves a number of purposes. It can pull the spotlight, and corresponding anxiety, off the person going out as their authentic self for the first time. It can cause conversations with closed-minded people that let us teach about orientation, identity, and community. It can communicate that the space is a safe space for everyone, because we’re there. It’s one of the ways we help ensure that every individual in our community feels loved, supported, protected, and respected.”

Nuns of a Different Habit

The Sisters describe their work as a blend of “serious silliness” and sacred activism. They fight for LGBTQ+ human rights, promote safer sex, raise funds for charities, volunteer in support of the community, and confront bigotry with humor and spectacle. 

Founded in 1979 by a group of gay men in San Francisco, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence originally adopted nun imagery as both parody and homage — a powerful symbol of service and devotion reinterpreted as a tool of queer empowerment. One of their mottos is: “We are nuns of a different habit,” which is a nod to their often symbiotic relationship with religious nuns restricted from providing services to LGBTQ+ communities. 

“I think one of the things that’s misunderstood about us is because we use the religious garb, that we are making fun of religion, and that’s not necessarily true,” Sister Stasia says. “It does bring attention to our mission and what we do, but at the same time, we take this very seriously. We vow to work with our community and our commitment to those that exist within that community and helping those as best as we can, we take that just as seriously. So I think that sometimes it’s, ‘Oh, you’re just donning all this makeup and you’re just a drag queen.’ But no, we’re doing service work. We mean it.”

Over time, what started as a few campy, determined men grew into a global, iconic movement. Today there are over 70 chapters in cities with vibrant LGBTQ+ communities all over the world, including in St. Louis — a city that ranks fifth in the U.S. for the highest share of male-to-male couple households and seventh in the country for female-to-female households.

The Fourth Incarnation

The “Sistory,” as the Sisters call it, alludes to the beginning of Fourth City Sisters and the foundation of what the House looks like today. First was the Gateway Sisters and then the Fleur de Lys Sisters. In early 2018, Fourth City Sisters, Abbey of the Glittering Arch was founded to replace the previous incarnations in St. Louis. By December of that year, the House was elevated to Mission status — a Mission House is a house still proving its commitment to the global sisterhood — and became the third incarnation of a St. Louis house. 

They continued their ministry of safer-sex outreach, human rights for the LGBTQ+ community — specifically the transgender community — and a general mission of spreading joy, increasing visibility, and promoting the safety of their community. In March 2019, they held their first fish fry and were joined for the first time by new Aspirants, or people who desire to be a part of the organization. 

Although going strong today, the new House has faced challenges and tragedies since its formation. In June 2019, their first Abbess, Sister Ellawhore Von Tramp, succumbed to the toll of their personal battles and took their own life. The House was left grieving their loss without leadership. 

However, the Sisters’ commitment to meet the needs of the community was unwavering. During the 2020 global health crisis, they hosted supply drives and fundraising for local organizations. These triumphs were followed by some stumbles, but ultimately, thanks to the work of Sister Mary Godmother, the current iteration of Fourth City Sisters was born. Today, Fourth City Sisters are a Fully Professed House of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and are very active in the St. Louis community.

The Abbey of the Glittering Arch

Seen as akin to spiritual advisors, the Sisters have been present for countless blessings, spreading joy and denouncing stigmatic guilt for their community. Their veils flow in the wind while marching down the street, whether on Trans Day of Visibility or while participating in PFLAG Community meetings in southeast Missouri. The Sisters are chameleons for the needs of their community, proudly describing themselves as “sacred clowns.”

“Honestly, sacred is the work that we use. It’s kind of like everything that we embody,” Sister Devoida Talent says. “The work that we do is sacred. The items that we are wearing are sacred. Our presence is sacred. Everything that we touch is sacred. I think clowns are beautiful because we get to express joy. One of the main reasons that we present this way is to assist in spreading joy universally. That’s honestly what we’re here to do: expiate stigma and guilt, which means to receive it, to take it off of the people in our community, and then to take it and turn it into universal joy. And that in and of itself is a sacred act. So everything that we do within that is sacred and fun.”

The Sisters can regularly be found supporting events like the Kings & Creatures Drag Show at their home bar, Bar:PM. The show serves as an opportunity for drag kings and non-binary creatives who don’t fit the traditional mold of femme-presenting drag queens to perform, as there are far fewer opportunities for them than for drag queens. This show, with the Sisters’ support, aims to hold space for those voices. 

The Sisters also partner with many LGBTQ+ nonprofits, clinics, and advocacy efforts across the St. Louis area, hosting fundraising drives and supporting local universities facing budget cuts and pressure from state and federal lawmakers. They also attend festivals and events across the St. Louis area to minister to members of the community, no matter their background.

At the Festival of Nations in 2024, for example, as Sister Stasia and Sister Devoida Talent promoted their Drag Story Time Coffee (which raises money for Tower Grove Pride), a man kept passing by the Fourth City Sisters’ booth again and again. A tension and weight was visible on his face and shoulders, Sister Stasia recalls. It was clear he needed a moment to talk, so Sister Stasia took him aside and heard his story. He shared that as a father, he was worried and concerned, but also accepting of his daughter, yet he was unaware of how to show her he loved her no matter what. 

Through conversation, Sister Stasia provided guidance and knowledge about queer identities, the coming out process, and a few lived experiences to help the man. He left the booth in tears, not of the pain he once held onto, but of relief that his daughter would not be alone on her journey and with new hope on how to connect with her.

Sister Pattie O’Pounder describes these sorts of experiences as one of the most rewarding parts of the Sisters’ work. “Holding space and a listening ear as they share their experiences or seek support and education can be so massive to witness,” Sister Pattie O’Pounder says. 

For Sister Cardi-Oid K’Boom, one of the most meaningful parts of the Sisters’ work is connecting directly with members of the LGBTQ+ community who need support. 

“Those who struggle to find space within an already ‘othering’ segment of the population,” Sister Cardi-Oid K’Boom says. “Having a chance to find that unique spark or that guarded joy in such a person and being able to stoke that fire, feed those flames, and witness that joy truly and unapologetically lived. It’s an opportunity to see someone able to celebrate themselves and their gifts authentically.”

After years of House incarnations, the Fourth City Sisters have also found support from Sisters across the globe who recognize the work they’re doing in their community. At Tower Grove Pride in 2024, in celebration of Fourth City Sisters becoming an official House of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Sisters from around the world and all 50 states joined them in the weekend celebration in St. Louis. 

“We had Sisters from all over the world here in St. Louis from literally everywhere,” Sister Devoida Talent says. “We had Sisters from Canada, Sisters from all over the 50 states. And we all got together and walked in the parade for Tower Grove Pride, and that experience and then seeing the response from the community is something I will never ever forget.”