Celebrating Pride
Celebrate Pride at the Cathedral this June 2026!
Washington National Cathedral is a House of Prayer for All People, rooted in The Episcopal Church yet open to all. We believe every person is a beloved child of God, and we aim to live out our Baptismal Covenant to “respect the dignity of every human being.”
Join us for upcoming events, or jump to learn more about significant LGBTQ+ events and milestones in the Cathedral and greater Episcopal church.
Sunday Holy Eucharist Celebrating Pride
worship with us
Capital Pride Parade
LGBTQIA+ Alliance
Remembering Matthew Shepard
st. joseph's chapelA Timeline of Milestones & Events
Faithful Episcopalians have been working toward a greater understanding and radical welcome of all of God’s children for over 50 years. Washington National Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and the spiritual home of the wider Episcopal Church, has participated in and benefitted from the movement towards greater inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community in the life of the Church.
As with all justice movements, greater inclusion and compassion for the LGBTQ+ community at the Cathedral and the larger Episcopal Church are the legacy of brave and committed individuals, both lay and ordained, who organized, advocated, and bore witness, often at personal cost and in the face of resistance and prejudice. See timeline content sources
1974 Episcopal LGBT Organization Founded
Louie Crew, a layperson living in Georgia at the time, founded IntegrityUSA, a non-profit organization with the goal of full inclusion of LGBT persons in The Episcopal Church. Read more →
September 1976 Episcopal Church Acknowledges Sacred Worth of “Homosexual Persons”
The General Convention of The Episcopal Church, which serves as its governing body, adopted resolutions stating that “homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church” and “are entitled to equal protection of the laws with all other citizens.” Read more →
January 10, 1977 Pauli Murray Ordained at Washington National Cathedral
Noted human rights activist, legal scholar, and author Pauli Murray, the first African American woman priest in The Episcopal Church, was among the first three women ordained as priests at the Cathedral. The Rev. Dr. Murray’s most intense romantic relationships were with women, and she had a long relationship with Irene Barlow. She also actively questioned her gender and sex, legally changing her name from Anna Pauline Murray to the gender non-specific Pauli and repeatedly sought but was denied gender-affirming medical care. Read more here and here →
1981 First Openly Gay Priest in the Diocese
The Reverend Jerry Anderson became the first openly gay priest serving in the Diocese of Washington when he was hired as the associate rector of St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church with the blessing of diocesan Bishop John T. Walker.
1986 Responding to AIDS
As the AIDS epidemic grew, the mid-1980s were a time of significant fear and, often, scapegoating of gay men, who were among the most affected and visible people living with AIDS. During that period, some faith communities reached out to care for those living with AIDS while others were unwilling or unsure how to respond.
In April 1986, the Cathedral sponsored “AIDS, A Caring Response,” a conference for clergy and caregivers. That summer, Bishop Walker established the Bishop’s Committee on AIDS. In October, he issued a pastoral letter to the diocese urging care and compassion for people living with AIDS and HIV education in churches and noting his comfort sharing the Communion Cup with those living with AIDS. Read Bishop Walker’s letter →
In November 1986, the Cathedral issued a policy at odds with the bishop’s letter and the advice it was receiving from leading public health officials, requiring those in the Cathedral community with HIV or AIDS to report their condition to Cathedral leadership. In October 1987, in response to fears about AIDS, the Cathedral changed its Communion policy and instructions to permit dipping Communion wafers into the common cup.
1987 Responding to AIDS (Continued)
On June 16, 1987, Suffragan Bishop Ronald Haines officiated at a service in the chapel of the diocesan headquarters to officially inaugurate and bless the Episcopal Caring Response to AIDS, a coalition of parishes in the diocese that began organizing in the fall of 1986 to provide and support services for people living with HIV in the region. The Reverend Jerry Anderson served as chaplain and later executive director.
As its first initiative, ECRA provided $30,000 to fund a housing facility for men living with AIDS and operated by Whitman-Walker Clinic. The house was named in honor of Michael Haas, an Episcopal organist who had died of AIDS a few years earlier. Read more →
In the fall of 1987, a request by those involved in the local AIDS ministry to establish an area in one of the Cathedral chapels for prayers for people living with AIDS and their families, as was done at Episcopal Cathedrals in New York and San Francisco, was reportedly denied by Cathedral provost Charles Perry.
1988 AIDS and the National Church
The National Episcopal AIDS Coalition was established to provide education and support for HIV and AIDS ministries across the church. Read more →
During the triennial meeting of the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in Detroit in July, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was coincidentally on display in the same convention center. During a healing service, The Episcopal Church’s Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning blessed new panels to be added to the Quilt and then led a solemn procession with the panels from the service to the full Quilt display. On November 13, he preached a sermon on AIDS at the Cathedral.
October 1988 and 1990 AIDS Interfaith Services at the Cathedral
In conjunction with a display of the NAMES Project Quilt on the Ellipse, the Cathedral hosted an interfaith service of healing and reconciliation featuring a display of Quilt panels and attended by over 2,600. Bishop Haines officiated and the Reverend William P. DeVeaux, Senior Minister, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, was the preacher at the service, which included the laying on of hands for those living with AIDS.
The organizers of the service hoped to have the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington sing a musical anthem during the service. While the chorus was allowed to process and sing with other choral groups, the Cathedral Provost and Bishop Walker reportedly declined the request for the group to sing independently.
The Cathedral hosted a second interfaith healing service in conjunction with a display of the NAMES Project Quilt. On this occasion, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington was permitted to sing a solo anthem and the Reverend Larry Uhrig, the openly gay pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church, a denomination serving the LGBTQ+ community, was the preacher.
1994 Prohibiting Discrimination in the Church
The Episcopal Church amended its canons [church law] to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, providing equal access to the rites and worship of The Episcopal Church, including ordination. Read more →
November 2003 Consecration of First Openly Gay Bishop
The Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson was consecrated as the first openly gay bishop in The Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion. He served as the Bishop of New Hampshire until his retirement in 2013. Read more →
2009 Transvisibility and Action
TransEpiscopal, a group dedicated to fostering the full embrace of trans and nonbinary people in life and worship of The Episcopal Church, sent its first delegation to General Convention, which expressed its support for laws that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. Read more →
July 17, 2010 First Same-sex Wedding at the Cathedral
Diocesan bishop John Bryson Chane celebrated the first same-sex wedding at the Cathedral, just three months after such marriages became legal in Washington, DC.
July 2012 Greater Protections and Inclusion
The canons of The Episcopal Church were amended to prohibit discrimination in the ordination process based on gender identity and gender expression. The General Convention also called for the repeal of discriminatory federal laws, increased legal protections for domestic partners, and recommended a liturgy for blessing the relationships of same-sex couples.
2013 Same-Sex Weddings Welcomed and Cathedral in Pride Parade
In January 2013, The Very Reverend Gary Hall, then-Cathedral dean announced that effective immediately, same-sex weddings may be celebrated at the Cathedral. Read more →
In June 2013, the first official Cathedral contingent marched in DC’s Pride parade. Read more →
June 22, 2014 First Trans Preacher at Cathedral
Dr. Cameron Partridge, the Episcopal chaplain at Boston University, was the first openly transgender priest to preach from the Cathedral’s historic Canterbury Pulpit. Read more →
July 2015 Same-sex Marriage across the Church
The General Convention amended the canons of The Episcopal Church to permit any couple the rite of Holy Matrimony. Read more →
July 2018 Service of Renaming Approved
The General Convention approved a name-change rite for use across the church to honor an important moment in the lives of anyone claiming their true identity. Read more →
2018-2019 Matthew Shepard Interred at the Cathedral, Plaque Installed
20 years after his death, Matthew Wayne Shepard was interred in the Cathedral’s Columbarium following a service at which Bishop Gene Robinson preached and the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of Washington, officiated.
In announcing the service and interment, Cathedral Dean Randy Hollerith noted, “Matthew Shepard’s death is an enduring tragedy affecting all people and should serve as an ongoing call to the nation to reject anti-LGBTQ bigotry and instead embrace each of our neighbors for who they are.”
Matthew’s mother Judy said, “We’ve given much thought to Matt’s final resting place, and we found the Washington National Cathedral is an ideal choice, as Matt loved the Episcopal church and felt welcomed by his church in Wyoming. For the past 20 years, we have shared Matt’s story with the world. It’s reassuring to know he now will rest in a sacred spot where folks can come to reflect on creating a safer, kinder world.”
In December 2019, a bronze plaque honoring Matthew was dedicated and installed in St. Joseph’s Chapel to mark his final resting place, which Matthew’s father Dennis helped install. It mirrors a plaque dedicated to human rights advocate Helen Keller, who lies nearby. Giving thanks for the hundreds who donated to support the plaque’s creation, Judy noted “We hope this will be a place that forever offers solace and strength for all who visit.” More about Matthew at the Cathedral →
December 1, 2022 Shepard Portrait Dedicated
On what would have been Matthew Shepard’s 46th birthday, the Cathedral dedicated a devotional portrait by acclaimed iconographer Kelly Latimore and commissioned by the Cathedral’s LGBTQ+ staff members. The rainbow that surrounds Matthew in the portrait features handwritten notes sent to his parents. Read more →
January 21, 2025 Bishop Budde Calls for Mercy
In her homily at “A Service of Prayer for the Nation,” the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde issued a call directly to the president for mercy for the marginalized, including migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families, some who fear for their lives. . . .” Watch homily and read transcript →
timeline sources
- The Archives of the Episcopal Church.
- Anderson, Jerry, Ordained by Angels, Copyright 2018.
- The Right Reverend John T. Walker, Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Washington, pastoral letter on AIDS, October 9, 1986.
- Memorandum, “Fear of AIDS and the Use of the Common Cup/Review”, John J. Hutchings, MD., US Departments of Health and Human Services, date unknown [sometime after October 1986].
- Letter of The Reverend Charles A. Perry, Provost, Washington National Cathedral to Bishop Walker, May 27, 1987.
- Memorandum “AIDS and Communion” from Canon Hamilton to provost, canons, and others, July 29, 1987.
- Letter of the Right Reverend Ronald W. Haines, Suffragan Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of Washington, October 26, 1987.
- Communicable Disease Policy Regarding Heath Conditions That May Require Special Measures to Protect Other Persons, November 12, 1986.