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Bishop Budde is unapologetic about confronting Trump over his treatment of LGBTQ+ people and immigrants

Bishop Mariann Budde President Donald Trump Service of Prayer for the Nation at Washington National Cathedral
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at a Service of Prayer for the Nation at Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. Budde gave a sermon where she asked Donald Trump to have mercy.

“It wasn’t like I was talking about people I don’t know,” Budde told The Advocate.

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The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, stepped into the national spotlight last week with a sermon delivered at the National Prayer Service in Washington National Cathedral. Last Tuesday, under the soaring Gothic arches of the historic cathedral, Budde’s voice resonated with a calm yet unyielding tone, calling for compassion and unity in the face of policies that have marginalized LGBTQ+ people and immigrants. Her words were measured and deliberate.

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Budde's message, directed at President Donald Trump, addressed the fear and marginalization faced by LGBTQ+ people and immigrant communities under his administration. The sermon has sparked both praise and criticism, catapulting Budde into a fierce cultural and political debate. Six days later, in an interview with The Advocate, Budde spoke candidly about the aftermath and the motivations behind her message.

“Responding as faithfully as I can”

“It’s impossible to fully process everything right now,” Budde admitted about the level of attention she has received in the days since her sermon. “I’m responding to this moment as faithfully as I can.”

Related: Watch a bishop scold Donald Trump about attacks on LGBTQ+ and immigrants during inaugural prayer service

Budde’s address emphasized themes of mercy, compassion, and unity while directly challenging policies enacted by Trump. Her call for mercy for LGBTQ+ youth and immigrant families came mere hours after the president signed an executive order revoking federal recognition of transgender and nonbinary identities. The policy effectively erased critical protections for gender-diverse Americans and exacerbated an already polarized national climate.

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“There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives,” Budde said during the service. “The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras, and temples.”

Support and gratitude from the LGBTQ+ community

In the days since the sermon, Budde said she has received an outpouring of support from LGBTQ+ people and allies who view her words as a bold stand against injustice. She shared that this response has been deeply moving, particularly given the challenging times the community faces.

Related: Livid Donald Trump demands apology over bishop’s ’nasty’ National Prayer Service sermon

“Among my friends in the LGBTQ+ community, there’s been a lot of gratitude and acknowledgment of the hard time we’re living through,” Budde said. “It’s heartbreaking to see the pain caused by divisions stoked at the expense of people we know and love.”

For Budde, the inclusion of LGBTQ+ voices in her message was nonnegotiable.

“These were not abstract concepts,” she explained. “I was talking about people I serve alongside every day. Without recognizing their presence, our unity would be incomplete.”

Budde’s connection to the LGBTQ+ community is personal and long-standing. In 2018, she and Bishop V. Gene Robinson presided over a public ceremony at the National Cathedral to honor Matthew Shepard, a gay hate-crime victim whose ashes were interred there.

Bishop Mariann Budde with Donald Trump at Service of Prayer for the Nation at Washington National Cathedral Donald Trump looks at Right Rev. Mariann Budde as he attends the national prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21 in Washington, D.C.Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

Backlash from Trump and conservative critics

While Budde’s sermon received widespread praise, it also ignited sharp backlash from conservatives, including Trump himself. The president labeled her remarks “nasty” and demanded an apology. Trump supporters echoed these sentiments, with some calling her simple sermon an inappropriate act of political activism. Republican U.S. Rep. Josh Brecheen of Oklahoma, who proudly claims to be a Christian in his social media bios, went so far as to introduce a resolution in the House of Representatives condemning Budde’s message as “politically biased.”

Related: Watch Bishop Budde tell Rachel Maddow she’s received ‘death wishes’ over Trump ‘mercy’ sermon

Budde, however, remains unapologetic. “I am not going to apologize for asking for mercy for others,” she said firmly.

Budde revealed the more sinister side of the backlash during an interview with Rachel Maddow, explaining that she has received messages wishing her dead. “I’m not sure they’ve threatened to kill me, but they seemed pleased if I met my eternal destiny sooner rather than later,” she said. Despite the hostility, she remains steadfast in her commitment to fostering a more compassionate discourse.

In our interview, she acknowledged the complexity of debates surrounding Christianity and politics, particularly when faith is used to justify exclusionary policies.

“There’s always been a broad understanding of what it means to be a Christian,” Budde observed. “But it’s disheartening when people weaponize faith to dismiss others’ humanity. The teachings of Jesus call us to mercy, love, and inclusion.”

The simplicity of the message

Budde downplayed the notion that her sermon itself was extraordinary, instead emphasizing the broader context in which it was delivered.

“It was a pretty simple message,” she said. “What’s noteworthy is the time we’re living in right now and how, therefore, it was received, both with extreme adulation and as if I had just, you know, come down from the mountain with a new revelation, which is not true, or that I said something so new that it had never been said before.”

Related: Bishop who confronted Trump led ceremony honoring Matthew Shepard

She added, “That is also not true, nor am I, I pray, Satan incarnate.”

Budde explained that the simplicity of her words was intentional, rooted in the moral clarity she believes is essential to navigating the complexities of today’s world.

“It wasn’t anything I couldn’t have explained to my five-year-old grandson,” she said. “The idea of treating others with kindness and love isn’t complex, but it seems revolutionary in these divisive times.”

A call to action

For Budde, the sermon was not merely a critique of Trump’s policies but a call for collective reflection and action. She said that achieving unity requires confronting the exclusion of marginalized groups.

“Without the presence of LGBTQ+ people and immigrants, we are not unified because we are not whole,” she said.

Budde emphasized the importance of inviting conversations with Christians who hold differing views. “I would never say to someone, ‘You’re not a Christian,’” she said. “But I would want to have a conversation about which teachings of Jesus we are prioritizing and how we are living them. We all pick and choose to some extent, but it’s crucial to engage with the fundamental teachings of our faith.”

She said she recognized the challenges of fostering dialogue across ideological divides. Budde pointed to the need for intentionality and humility in these efforts.

“We all have to get better at this,” she said. “We may not see the fruits of our hard work right away. This may be a time for planting seeds and trusting that they will grow in the future.”

A message for LGBTQ+ youth and a legacy of advocacy

In the face of policies targeting LGBTQ+ individuals, Budde’s message to youth is one of hope and resilience.

“I hope that they have people that surround them who can assure them that they are God’s beloved and that they are loved as they are, for who they are,” she said. “There is hardship and maybe intense prejudice in this world, but that does not take away their inherent dignity that cannot be taken by anyone. They are of infinite value.”

Budde says her advocacy for LGBTQ+ inclusion is deeply rooted in her faith.

“As the Episcopal Church, because of our positions in the past and the changes we’ve made in our understanding of human sexuality — marriage, ordination qualifications, those sorts of things — we have, I think, a disproportionate number of people from the LGBTQ+ community in our leadership and congregations,” Budde said. She highlighted that in the Diocese of Washington, LGBTQ+ people are a significant part of both clergy and congregants. “It wasn’t like I was talking about people I don’t know,” she said.

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