The first gay bishop

last updated 8 January 2015

Concord, N.H.

Episcopalian leaders in New Hampshire this week elected an openly gay priest as their next bishop. If approved by a national convention, the Rev. Gene Robinson, 56, would become the first bishop to be chosen after publicly stating that he was gay. The vote threatened to widen a rift in the church over the issue of homosexuality. A global conference of affiliated churches in 1998 passed a resolution calling gay sex “incompatible with Scripture.” “Some people are already announcing that this is the last straw, that they are leaving the Episcopal Church,” one official said. Robinson said he deserved a chance. “I plan to be a good bishop,” he said, “not a gay bishop.”