At a huge gathering known instantly by its vibrant colors, Episcopalians from the Diocese of Virginia made a profound connection with consecrated, colorless water.
With a gallon jug of distilled water consecrated that morning, the Very Rev. Burl Salmon of The Falls Church blessed throngs of onlookers as he marched 1.8 miles in the World Pride Parade in Washington DC on June 7. The six-hour parade featured a 1,000-foot-long rainbow flag and about 300 groups of floats, vehicles and walkers.
Walking nearby, Xander Guyer, an acolyte and crucifer at The Falls Church who is trans, saw the reaction.
“So many queer people there haven’t been blessed since they were children,” he said. “We aren’t just advertising the church. Blessing the crowd brings God’s love into the empty space carved out by homophobia and hatred.”
Guyer and Salmon joined 10 fellow parishioners (in red shirts with the message “The Falls Church welcomes you”) and dozens more from parishes in the South Fairfax Region of the diocese where Salmon is dean and beyond. Some of those Northern Virginia parishes included: St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Falls Church, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Arlington, and Grace Episcopal Church and Christ Church in Alexandria.
The Diocese of Virginia marched behind the banner of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
“A watershed event and deeply powerful moment for all present and especially for me,” said The Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Virginia, who for a decade early in her career served in various clergy positions in the nation’s capital.
The group gathered “in the supportive and welcoming St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which is one of the first historically Black congregations in Washington D.C.,” she noted. “We gathered in the love of God and for the dignity of all human beings. The myriad expression of the Creator’s gift of diversity was everywhere to behold. There was joy and commitment among us to live out and visibly demonstrate our baptismal vows to the world.”
Motivated to March in 2025
The Diocese of Virginia marchers represented an Episcopalian groundswell at this event, which for 49 years was a local event. (This year, DC hosted the World Pride Parade as part of WorldPride, an event that moves to a different host city yearly.)
Since 2022, “our contingent has almost doubled every year,” said The Rev. Amanda Akes-Cardwell, the Washington diocesan missioner for faith formation and development.
“In 2022 we had about 25 folks and this year, we had at least 150 participants. This growth is no doubt, due to efforts to provide a collaborative space for faithful Episcopalians in our region to unite and show our love of and support for LGBTQ+ persons. In a culture and climate that often disparages the LGBTQ+ community, the Episcopal Church is a place where all are welcome, all are valued, and all belong.”
Washington National Cathedral had an even bigger presence in the parade, with a float depicting the cathedral tower in rainbow stripes.
Pride observances in 2025 carried a greater political meaning for Episcopalians, said The Most Rev. Sean W. Rowe, Presiding Bishop:
“Especially this year, Pride provides an opportunity to stand against injustice and fear by proclaiming that LGBTQ+ people are beloved children of God and cherished members of the Episcopal Church and the Body of Christ.”
Salmon said people who marched with the Diocese of Virginia were also motivated “in response to the increasingly hostile political climate toward queer persons and progressive faith communities,” he said.
“It’s happened fast, and many in my congregation are scared. Many in this diocese are scared. That’s where this whole conversation has come from. We’ve got priests in Northern Virginia who are talking to the bishops about their own congregations, and we’re talking about immigration status, and we’re talking about queer folks, and we’re talking about anybody who’s in danger, and it’s real. And so, walking this year was that much more important.”
A heavy security presence at the parade helped quell some of their fears about demonstrating publicly. So did their parade neighbors.
“We were [marching] near the affirming Methodists, who were followed by Buddhists,” Salmon said. “It was a cascade of faith people.” And the entire route was packed with onlookers.
Holy Water, Deep Reactions
The memory of blessing them makes Salmon emotional.
“I can’t even talk about it without choking up,” he said, recalling connections with “the people who haven’t been blessed with holy water since they were children. And here is this queer man in a collar walking out and blessing them. And it takes a minute when you can kind of watch them, then they realize what happens, and the look on their faces and just the tears start coming because they realize they’ve just been blessed.”
Guyer, who joined The Falls Church in 2022, said that the parish and parade offer a deep sense of spiritual belonging. “There are so many ways to express your truest self,” he said. “Even if the world doesn’t understand, there is a community who will love you. That’s one of the main things I feel during the Pride Parade.”
The 2025 parade affirmed what he loves the most: “The ecstatic, radical joy in the air! All throughout the year, it feels like the world tells me and my community to be ashamed. It can feel heavy, especially being part of the trans community. Seeing all my trans siblings in public gives me strength. Here, even straight people are celebrating us! It’s a wonderful experience that reminds me that I’m not alone.”
Expanded Presence in 2026
Plans are underway for a greater diocesan presence in 2026. Salmon talked to like-minded peers at the spring clergy conference, but by then parade registration had closed. The Diocese of Virginia supported the event through Bishop Harris’ presence and bright multicolored stickers of the diocesan seal that marchers gave away during the parade.
“There is acknowledgement on the diocesan level that the queer folks in the Diocese of Virginia have been needing support and acknowledgement, and this is a really intentional beginning of the Diocese saying, ‘We see you, we recognize you, how can we support you?’” Salmon said. “We really appreciate that.”
In 2026, “we hope to register DioVA by the deadline next year and issue a more expansive invitation to Virginia parishes to join us behind a banner that extends the welcome of the Episcopal Church in Virginia,” Salmon said.
“Richmond has its own Pride; so does Sterling, Arlington and Alexandria,” he noted. “I would love if a little church from the Shenandoah Valley or Middle Peninsula comes up next year and marches with us because they’ve got two or three folks whose children are queer, and they just want to do it.”
In 2026, The Episcopal Church will celebrate the 50th anniversary of affirming that LGBTQ+ people have a full and equal claim to the love, acceptance, and pastoral care of the church.
“For 50 years, faithful Episcopalians from all walks of life have worked and prayed to make that promise a reality,” Rowe said in a message for the June 1 Pride Eucharist with Blessing and Commissioning in New York. “While the journey is not yet over, Pride gives us an opportunity to remember the struggles, celebrate the joy, and give thanks for the love of God that binds us together and makes us one.”
The Episcopal Diocese of Washington advised participants this year to prepare for “extreme heat and sun or possibly rain, a lot of standing and waiting, and celebrating and sharing love.” The same conditions are forecast for June 2026.