Gene Robinson, the first openly gay
bishop of the Episcopal Church, announced Sunday that he and his
partner of over 25 years are getting divorced.
Robinson and Mark Andrews exchanged
vows in 2010 after New Hampshire legalized same-sex marriage.
The 66-year-old Robinson retired last
year from the Diocese of New Hampshire after serving 9 years as
bishop.
“Recently, my partner and husband of
25-plus years and I decided to get divorced,” Robinson wrote in a
The
Daily Beast op-ed. “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.”
Robinson, who has written several books
on the subject of marriage equality, addressed divorce from the
context of an equality advocate.
“It is at least a small comfort to me
to know that like any marriage, gay and lesbian couples are subject
to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages
between heterosexual couples,” he wrote.
(Related: Obama
selects Gene Robinson to deliver Easter prayer.)