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.”