Email

Religion: First openly gay Episcopal bishop divorces husband

FILE - In this photo released by the Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop V. Gene Robinson are shown during their private civil union ceremony performed by Ronna Wise in Concord, N.H., in this Saturday June 7, 2008 file photo. Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, announced Saturday May 3, 2014 he is getting divorced from Andrew. (AP Photo/Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, File)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church has announced he is divorcing his husband.

FILE – In this photo released by the Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop V. Gene Robinson are shown during their private civil union ceremony performed by Ronna Wise in Concord, N.H., in this Saturday June 7, 2008 file photo. Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, announced Saturday May 3, 2014 he is getting divorced from Andrew. (AP Photo/Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, File)

Retired Bishop Gene Robinson announced that he is divorcing Mark Andrew in an email to the Diocese of New Hampshire Saturday and an article for The Daily Beast.

The coupled entered into a civil union in 2008 that converted to a marriage when New Hampshire legalized gay marriage in 2010.

His election in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church created an international uproar and led conservative Episcopalians to break away from the main church in the United States.

He writes that details of his divorce are private and that he can’t repay the debt he owes Andrew for his standing by me through the challenges of the last decade.

Related posts

International Criminal Court issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Hamas officials

Trump’s criminal conviction won’t stop him from getting security clearance as president

What Ukraine can now do with longer-range US missiles − and how that could affect the course of the war