Headline Of The Day

Predictable.

Bishop Gene Robinson To Divorce

"Recently, my partner and husband of 25-plus years and I decided to get divorced. While the details of our situation will remain appropriately private, I am seeking to be as open and honest in the midst of this decision as I have been in other dramatic moments of my life—coming out in 1986, falling in love, and accepting the challenge of becoming Christendom’s first openly gay priest to be elected a Bishop in the historic succession of bishops stretching back to the apostles. As my marriage to Mark ends, I believe him to be one of the kindest, most generous and loyal human beings on earth. There is no way I could ever repay the debt I owe him for his standing by me through the challenges of the last decade. I will be forever grateful to him, and as I tell couples in pre-marital counseling, 'Marriage is forever, and your relationship will endure—whether positively or negatively—even if the marriage formally ends.'" - Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson, writing for the Daily Beast.

The Guardian reports on Robinson's impact on his church.

Between 1972 and 1986 Robinson was married to Isabella McDaniel, with whom he has two daughters. McDaniel supported his 2003 election as bishop of New Hampshire, which, caused conservative Episcopalians in the US to break away and was the subject of intense debate in the worldwide Anglican church. During his consecration, having received death threats and having been the subject of a smear campaign, Robinson and Andrew wore bulletproof vests. In 2006 he was treated for problems with alcohol. In 2009 Robinson was invited to speak at the inauguration of President Barack Obama; after his retirement he joined a think thank, Center for American Progress, with close ties to the administration. In 2010, announcing his retirement, Robinson told his New Hampshire diocese: “Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years, and in some ways, you.” On the eve of his consecration, Robinson's hometown newspaper, Kentucky's Lexington Herald-Leader, called him: "The most controversial Anglican leader since Henry VIII."

Barbwire Has The Gene Robinson Sadz

Details.

Tweet Of The Day- Bishop Gene Robinson

Details.

SLIDESHOW: Family Equality Council's 30th Anniversary Gala In New York City

Last night intrepid JMG photographer Dr. Jeff accompanied me to the Family Equality Council's 30th anniversary gala on Manhattan's Pier 60, where over 750 LGBT moms, dads and allies swarmed the grand ballroom and mingled with bold-face names like Zach Wahls (so tall!), Tony winner David Hyde Pierce, comedian Judy Gold, Bishop Gene Robinson, Freedom To Marry head Evan Wolfson, and crooner Clay Aiken (who drew a small but enthusiastic contingent of middle-aged Claymates.)

The evening's honorees were FEC board member Scott Davenport, who is the co-founder of P-Town's annual Family Week, and famed Broadway producer Daryl Roth, who brought along the very young cast of her latest show, the multiple Tony-nominated Newsies. Both Aiken and the Newsies cast performed, as well as Tony nominee Montego Glover (Memphis).

All evening long there was a noticeable flurry of smartphone action across the room as attendees anxiously checked for returns on Amendment One. During his set, Aiken addressed that issue and spoke passionately about his love for (and disappointment with) his home state. His words underscored the fact that sitting in the room were the very people who have the most at stake when it comes to legal protections for their families. Dr. Jeff's slideshow is below, full-screen photos are here.

VIDEO: The Family Equality Council rang the closing bell at the Stock Exchange today.

Clergy Protests MSNBC For Hosting Hate Group Leader Tony Perkins

Openly Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson To Retire Over Death Threats

Saying he is tired of the incessant death threats rained down from God's Gentle People™ , openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson is retiring.

"The fact is, the last seven years have taken their toll on me, my family and you," Robinson wrote in a message posted on the diocese website. "Death threats, and the now-worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark, who has faithfully stood with me every minute of the last seven years." Robinson was openly gay when he was elected bishop in 2003, but it aroused such passions that he wore a bullet-proof vest to his consecration. His ordination as bishop -- the first of an openly gay priest in any Christian denomination -- so divided the church that its General Convention in 2006 called a moratorium on "any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church."

Bishop Gene Robinson - It Gets Better

Archbishop Of Canterbury "Profoundly Sorry" For Anti-Gay Speeches

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams opened the Church of England's annual meeting with an apology to the gay community over comments he has made in the wake of the church's split on the issue of gay clergy.

"The debate over the status and vocational possibilities of LGBT people in the Church is not helped by ignoring the existing facts, which include many regular worshippers of gay or lesbian orientation and many sacrificial and exemplary priests who share this orientation. There are ways of speaking about the question that seem to ignore these human realities or to undervalue them. I have been criticised for doing just this, and I am profoundly sorry for the carelessness that could give such an impression."

Williams cited the case of American Bishop Gene Robinson, whose 2003 ordination began the rift between Anglican traditionalists and those who advocate for gay and female clergy.

Tonight: HBO Re-Airs Inaugural Concert WITH Gene Robinson

But tonight's re-airing is for subscribers only.

HBO says it will telecast “an updated version” of Sunday’s inaugural-related concert tonight (Wednesday) at 11:30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time. By “updated,” the premium cable network means it will include the invocation that had been delivered by the Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay New Hampshire Episcopal bishop, at the ceremony’s start. HBO’s Sunday telecast had not included the invocation and the premium telecast had exclusive TV rights to the event, which meant no one watching the concert on TV saw the invocation. They did catch celebrities like Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Mary J. Blige, Beyonce, and Garth Brooks. Obama addressed the crowd near the end of the bash.

Bishop Gene Robinson On Daily Show

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Bishop Gene Robinson

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson appeared on the Daily Show last night to talk about his inaugural experience and to get in one VERY good joke. He did not address the HBO concert debacle although Jon Stewart mentioned it at the top of the show.

Rachel Maddow On Robinson Flap

I love the way she says "livid."

Obama Team Apologies, May Play Robinson Tape At Inauguration

Ah, the power of teh gay.Via The Feed:

The officials who planned Sunday's inaugural music celebration, We Are One, have apologized for a error that resulted in excluding the invocation by openly gay Episcopal bishop, the Rev. Gene Robinson, from the televised portion of the program. They also say the bishop's prayer may be broadcast on the big screens before Tuesday's inauguration program begins.

[snip]

There is talk that Robinson's invocation will be shown early tomorrow and the inauguration committee may post video of his prayer on its channel within the video-sharing Web site YouTube. But the committee has not yet confirmed that to me.

What's the bet on this really happening? As I've mentioned here many times, I don't think any religious message should be allowed in a government ceremony. While I'm aware of the contradiction inherent in rooting for Bishop Robinson, what we're witnessing here is very probably a harbinger of how the Obama administration will handle LGBT issues going forward. That alone makes this otherwise trifling issue important.

Obama Team Points Back At HBO

Last night HBO released a statement blaming Obama's Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) for not airing openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson's invocation. Now John Aravosis reports getting this message from the Obama team:

“We had always intended and planned for Rt. Rev. Robinson’s invocation to be included in the televised portion of yesterday’s program. We regret the error in executing this plan – but are gratified that hundreds of thousands of people who gathered on the mall heard his eloquent prayer for our nation that was a fitting start to our event.” -- PIC communications director Josh Earnest.

Uh, except that "hundreds of thousands of people" didn't hear Robinson due to "malfunctioning" speakers. It's interesting to see how furiously both sides are backpedaling from this.

UPDATE: AfterElton got a further statement from HBO: "It was not an HBO omission. We merely televised the show beginning at 2:30pm. Had the PIC told us upfront that this was to be part of the telecast, it would have been." According to AfterElton, HBO has given the PIC permission to post Robinson's speech on their website.

No Bishop Gene Robinson On HBO Inaugural Concert Broadcast

After days of controversy and outrage from the religious right, openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson opened Barack Obama's inauguration concert on the National Mall today with a request that the nation pray for "understanding that our president is a human being and not a messiah."

But only the people AT the concert heard that, because HBO did not televise Robinson's message. Who engineered this blackout of Robinson? I suspect we'll hear lots about this in days to come.

UPDATE: It turns out that a lot the people at the concert did NOT hear Robinson either. There were sound "difficulties" and most of the estimated 500,000 in the audience could not hear his invocation. Only those very close to the stage could hear.

UPDATE II: The 7PM rebroadcast of the show was identical, no Gene Robinson.

UPDATE III: The full text of Robinson's prayer is here. If you'd like to express your unhappiness to HBO, you can do that here. My gut tells me the call was made elsewhere.

UPDATE IV: AfterElton.com has spoken to HBO, who says the decision to cut Robinson was made by the Obama transition team.

Contacted Sunday night by AfterElton.com concerning the exclusion of Robinson's prayer, HBO said via email, "The producer of the concert has said that the Presidential Inaugural Committee made the decision to keep the invocation as part of the pre-show." Uncertain as to whether or not that meant that HBO was contractually prevented from airing the pre-show, we followed up, but none of the spokespeople available Sunday night could answer that question with absolute certainty. However, it does seem that the network's position is that they had nothing to do with the decision.

UPDATE V: Somebody seated near the stage recorded Robinson's invocation.

Gene Robinson On Rachel Maddow

PhoboQuotable -Matt Barber

“It’s a shame that President-elect Obama apparently has so little regard for his Christian constituents that he would give such a high place of honor to a self-styled man of God whose only claim to fame is that he abandoned his wife and children to enter, ‘loudly and proudly,’ a sexually deviant lifestyle expressly condemned by the very Bible he’s ironically called ‘holy and sacred.’

“None of us are without sin; and certainly none are less valuable in God’s eyes than any other. But Christ did command us to repent of our sins and to ‘go and sin no more.’ Not only has Robinson refused to repent of his homosexual behavior, which is unequivocally condemned throughout both the Old and New Testaments as sexual sin, he has further rebelled against God by leading astray countless of his flock who suffer from similar temptation.

“A fancy white robe and tall priestly hat does not a man of God make. Robinson may or may not be a believer as he claims; only he and God know that for sure. But what we do know is this: based upon his frequent association with homosexual anti-Christian hate groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, and in light of his ongoing counter-Christian sexual crusade, Gene Robinson is little more than a radical homosexual activist in a clergyman’s clothing. In fact, his heretical rebellion against God’s express natural order, coupled with his selfish refusal to surrender his pulpit, has almost single-handedly devastated the U.S. Episcopal Church." - Failed boxer and successful douchebag Matt "BamBam" Barber, board member of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality.

Olive Branch

Barack Obama has invited openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to give the invocation at an inaugural concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Via press release from the HRC:

Right Rev. V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the U.S. Episcopal Church in the diocese of New Hampshire has accepted an invitation from President-elect Barack Obama’s inaugural committee to deliver the invocation at a concert held at the Lincoln Memorial. The concert, which will be held on Sunday, January 18th, is the first inaugural event the president-elect will attend. Bishop Robinson, the first openly gay priest to be ordained bishop by a major Christian denomination, is a member of the Human Rights Campaign Religion Council.

“Bishop Robinson models what prayer should be—spiritual reflection put into action for justice,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “It is encouraging that the president-elect has chosen this spiritual hero for all Americans to lead the nation in prayer at the Lincoln Memorial inaugural concert.”

Does this mitigate the Rick Warren debacle in your mind?

UPDATE: Politico says the invite was out before the Warren mess started: "An Obama source: 'Robinson was in the plans before the complaints about Rick Warren. Many skeptics will read this as a direct reaction to the Warren criticism – but it’s just not so.' Robinson has been referred to as 'the most controversial Christian in the world.'"