Gay NH bishop to offer prayer at inaugural event

[Authur Jason]

New Hampshire Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson, an outspoken, international gay rights leader, has been asked to give a prayer at one of President-elect Barack Obama's first inauguration events at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The announcement follows weeks of criticism from Robinson and gay-rights groups over Obama's decision to tap the Rev. Rick Warren, who's likened committed gay relationships to incest and polygamy, to pray on inauguration day.

Robinson, an early Obama supporter, said last month the choice of Warren left him feeling as if he'd been slapped in the face. In a telephone interview this weekend, Robinson, of Weare, said he doesn't believe Obama has included him in response to the Warren criticism. But he said his inclusion won't go unnoticed by the gay and lesbian community.

"It's important for any minority to see themselves represented in some way," Robinson said. "Whether it be a racial minority, an ethnic minority or, in our case, a sexual minority. Just seeing someone like you up front matters."

Warren, author and high-profile pastor of a California mega-church, will still give the invocation at the Jan. 20 inauguration, shortly before Obama delivers his much-anticipated inaugural address. Robinson will share his invocation prayer Sunday afternoon on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during an inaugural kick-off event.

Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden will be there, and Obama is expected to speak, Robinson said. The event will be open to the public and run on HBO. Robinson doesn't yet know what he'll say, but he knows he won't use a Bible.

"While that is a holy and sacred text to me, it is not for many Americans," Robinson said. "I will be careful not to be especially Christian in my prayer. This is a prayer for the whole nation."

Robinson said the Obama team has given him no direction on what to include in his remarks.

Clark Stevens, spokesman for the inaugural committee, said he could not disclose the rest of Sunday's program because it was still being finalized. He said the committee extended the invite to Robinson because Robinson had offered his advice to Obama during the campaign and because of his church work.

"Bishop Robinson is one of our nation's most prominent religious leaders," Stevens said.

When asked whether Robinson was included to calm the Warren complaints, Stevens repeated himself. "(Robinson's) an important figure in the religious community," he said. "We are excited that he will be involved."

At home, Robinson was long known foremost as a gifted and devoted priest. He gained international attention after New Hampshire Episcopalians made him their bishop and, as a result, the worldwide church's first openly gay bishop.

His election has divided the church here and abroad. Despite his insistence that he wants to be "the good bishop, not the gay bishop," Robinson has sought out a high-profile role as a gay rights activist while also leading his congregations here.

He signed on to the Obama campaign early during the New Hampshire primary, saying he liked Obama's commitment to uniting people of different viewpoints and lifestyles. When Obama invited Warren, who has campaigned against gay marriage in California, to give the invocation inauguration day, Robinson shared his disappointment.

"I actually have a lot of respect for Rick Warren, amongst evangelicals," Robinson told Beliefnet.com in late December. "He's taken a hit for his compassionate response to AIDS, his commitment to alleviating poverty. He's done some good things. The difficult thing is that he's said, and continues to affirm, some horrendous things about homosexuality."
In other interviews, Robinson said Warren deserved "to be at the table" but not in such a prominent way. And he wasn't alone. Gay rights groups chimed in with their own complaints.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, told one interviewer that the Warren selection was a "genuine blow" to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Americans. Frank Rich, a New York Times columnist, called Obama's choice a "glib" use of political capital and accused the president-elect of cockiness.

Still, when Robinson got his invite from the inauguration committee two weeks ago, he said he didn't connect it to his criticism of Warren. "I don't think the campaign balanced this out," he said. "It wasn't their thinking."

Instead, he was "honored, stunned and also very excited," he said. The committee has also invited Robinson and his partner, Mark Andrew, to participate in some other inauguration events, both private and public, he said. They leave for Washington, D.C., on Saturday.

Robinson said he's particularly glad he will speak on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, his favorite of the Washington, D.C., memorials.

"What is particularly moving for me is that I'll be standing on what I consider to be holy ground," he said. "It's the site of the 'I Have a Dream' speech, and I've always been moved by the Gettysburg Address. All of it will be pretty overwhelming."

He will spend the time until then drafting his prayer. He'd like it to be a surprise and reflective of the times, he said. "I think these are sober and difficult times that we are facing," Robinson said. "It won't be a happy, clappy prayer."

Robinson will wear his purple bishop's shirt and the gold cross given him by the church after he became bishop. It's made from pieces of gold - treasured rings, necklaces and pins - donated by members of the church and others who've become supporters

Culled From:http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090112/FRONTPA...