Pride Returns to Trinity
LGBTQ+ communities around the world recognize June as Pride Month. Here at Trinity we celebrate Pride 365 days a year with programming that welcomes and affirms our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) siblings.
“Since we have returned to worship and other activities following pandemic-related closures, it has been a great joy to welcome people back into our churches and buildings,” said the Rev. Matthew Welsch, Priest and Director, Youth and Community Care. “Now that we are heading into June, we are delighted to share the slate of programs we have planned to celebrate our diversity and our God-given identities, as we recommit to the work of liberation for our community.”
On Sunday, we raised the Progress Pride Flag in Trinity Churchyard following the 11:15am Holy Eucharist. The Progress Pride Flag, designed in 2018 to better acknowledge trans persons and Black and brown members of the LGBTQ+ community, will fly through June as a visible reminder that Trinity holds social justice and inclusiveness among its core values. The flag also celebrates the diversity of LGBTQ+ people around the world as a symbol of safety and a beacon of hope.
AIDS Walk New York
Last weekend, Trinity congregation and staff members also marched in AIDS Walk New York, an annual 10K in Central Park to support AIDS treatment, research, and education. If you’d like to join the cause, you can still donate online.
In June, we are delighted to welcome best-selling author and historian Hugh Ryan as he shares insights from his new book, The Women's House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison in a conversation with the Very Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, Trinity’s Theologian-in-residence. Save the date for June 16 at 6pm. (Free registration will open soon.) We will also remember the Pulse anniversary on June 12 and mark Pride Sunday on June 26 with a special liturgy and participation in NYC’s annual Pride March.
In the fall we look forward to hosting “Pride. Celebrate. Retreat. Celebrating LGBTQ+ Communities” at the Trinity Retreat Center in West Cornwall, CT (September 6–8, 2022), an opportunity for members of the LGBTQ+ communities to come together for guided prayer, rest, reflection, walks, the sharing of stories, and contemplation using poetry and scripture. Sign up here. We will also present a special performance centered on the life of Matthew Shepard in St. Paul’s Chapel.
Trinity’s congregation-led LGBTQ Concerns group is dedicated to celebrating, inviting, and blessing the lives and gifts of our lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer community members. To join or learn more, contact trinitylgbtconcerns@outlook.com. You can also keep up with the latest events and news at trinitywallstreet.org/pride.