V. Gene Robinson

American clergy, Bishop V. Gene Robinson, is the first openly gay, non-celibate man to be elected bishop of any Christian sect in the 2,000 year history of Christianity. He was elected head of the New Hampshire Episcopal diocese on June 7, 2003 in Concord, NH, and, after several days of debate, he was confirmed at a convention in Minneapolis, MN on August 5 amidst applause and protests both. Conservative members of the church announced that his appointment would cause a schism and protested loudly, but the Rt. Reverend Vicky Gene Robinson has so far transcended criticism and attacks, claiming that God called him "to acknowledge myself as a gay man" and adding that the Almighty isn’t unhappy with gays and lesbians. "God loves me and them just the way we are," he said. On November 2, 2003 at about 4 PM in Durham, NH, he was consecrated Bishop Co-Adjutor of New Hampshire, serving under Bishop Theuner until Theuner’s retirement in 2004 when Robinson will become head of the diocese.

Robinson is no stranger to hardship. Born to a tenant tobacco farmer and his homemaker wife, Robinson’s parents were told at his birth that he would die or be severely impaired mentally and physically. He was paralyzed on one side of his body, his head was bruised and deformed, one eye was swollen shut, placed in an incubator and fed with an eyedropper. His father was told to sign the birth and death certificates and in his anguish gave the dying baby the name he and his wife had chosen for a girl: Vicky. He and his parents attribute his remarkable recovery to a miracle from God.

Robinson’s parents were devoutly church-going, and one night, during a revival in August 1959, Robinson claimed he gave his life to Christ. Declining an offer to attend Princeton University, he instead accepted a scholarship from the University of the South, an all-boys Episcopal college in Sewanee, Tennessee and embraced the Episcopal Church.