Gene Robinson
The first openly gay bishop in a major Christian church with a historic episcopate wore a bulletproof vest at his consecration.
V. Gene Robinson grew up in Kentucky, the son of poor tobacco farmers; as a newborn he was so ill that doctors did not expect him to survive. He studied at the University of the South in Tennessee and at the General Theological Seminary in New York and was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church, the American branch of the Anglican Communion.
Robinson married and had two daughters. In 1986 he came out; he and his wife separated amicably. From 1988 he served as an assistant to the Bishop of New Hampshire.
In June 2003 the Diocese of New Hampshire elected him bishop. On 5 August 2003 the church’s House of Bishops confirmed the election by 62 votes to 45 – the first time an openly gay priest living in a relationship had become a bishop in a major Christian church with a historic episcopate. He was consecrated in November 2003 in an ice hockey arena, wearing a bulletproof vest under his vestments because of death threats.
His election caused a deep rift in the worldwide Anglican Communion; conservative congregations left the Episcopal Church. At the same time, Robinson became a symbol of the visibility of gay and lesbian people in religious communities. He spoke at the inauguration of President Barack Obama in 2009 and retired as bishop in 2013. He has written books on faith and homosexuality and continues to campaign for LGBTQ rights.