Appearing last night on MSNBC's Rachel
Maddow show, openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson said President-elect
Barack Obama “stands with us,” and signaled he was ready to move
past the controversy of his invitation.
Robinson is the controversial New
Hampshire Episcopal bishop whose consecration in 2003 has split the
Anglican Church.
He has been invited to give an opening
prayer at a Sunday inaugural event attended by Obama and Vice
President-elect Joe Biden on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
Obama is scheduled to speak at the event which will be broadcast on
HBO.
The announcement has resurrected the
controversy surrounding the choice of Rev. Rick Warren to give the
invocation prayer at the January 20 inaugural ceremony, a prologue to
Obama's historic inaugural address. Gay activists say Warren is
homophobic. He likened gay marriage to an incestuous relationship
and polygamy, and supported passage of a controversial California gay
marriage ban.
Warren is the best-selling author of
The Purpose Driven Life and heads the prominent evangelical
Saddleback church in Southern California. A rising leader in the
evangelical movement, Warren supports the outlawing of abortion in
all cases and is a staunch gay rights opponent. But his moderate
tone on AIDS, poverty and climate change have made him controversial
among social conservatives.
Robinson was an early critic of the
decision, saying last month: “It was like a slap in the face.”
“I'm all for Rick Warren being at the
table,” he told the New York Times, “but we're not talking
about a discussion, we're talking about putting someone up front and
center at what will be the most watched inauguration in history, and
asking his blessing on the nation. And the God that he's praying to
is not the God that I know.”
But last night, Robinson, an early
Obama supporter, said he believed his invitation was not an effort by
the Obama transition team to appease the gay and lesbian community.
“I had the great opportunity to meet
then-Senator Obama early on in the New Hampshire primary,” Robinson
said. “And the thing that drew me to him was his talk of a vision
of governing that was not about polarization, but about bringing us
all together. I think it is a message that America hungers for, and
it's certainly a message that religious people should support. And
then I worked behind the scenes on the campaign, particularly
advising Senator Obama around gay and lesbian issues. And so I think
it [my invitation] was really based upon the brief but important
relationship that he and I have been able to establish.”
Adding later, “I do feel very
confident that this President-elect understands us and stands with us
in the issues that are important to us.”
Warren applauded the decision to
include Robinson. According to a note published online at
Christianity Today Warren said: “President-elect Obama has
again demonstrated his genuine commitment to bringing all Americans
of goodwill together in search of common ground. I applaud his
desire to be the president of every citizen.”
Openly lesbian Maddow asked what events
Robinson had been invited to attend. “I was invited to pronounce
the invocation, which is just an amazing honor, and then invited,
along with my partner, to participate in the swearing in, the
national prayer breakfast, and a number of other private events,”
Robinson replied.
The acceptance of openly gay clergy
remains a divisive issue in the Episcopal Church, and Robinson's 2003
consecration has splintered the worldwide church into several
factions. In the United States, four diocese
and dozens of parishes have broken away from the church over the
controversy.