The first openly gay Episcopal bishop, Lexington native Gene Robinson has announced that he and his longtime partner and husband are splitting.
Robinson was elected bishop in the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003. He later married his partner of 25 years, Mark Andrew, in a private civil union in 2008. When New Hampshire legislators voted to allow same-sex marriage, Robinson became legally married to his partner when they didn’t opt out of the change.
While Robinson retired in 2013, his consecration continues to spark controversy. Hundreds of parishes left the Episcopal Church in protest.
In a column for the Daily Beast, Robinson wrote that his “belief in marriage is undiminished” despite the reality of divorcing someone he has loved and continues to love.
Robinson was born and raised in Lexington before completing a Master of Divinity degree at the General Theological Seminary in New York in 1973.
