Gene Robinson
Vicky Gene Robinson (born May 29, 1947 in Fayette County, Kentucky) is an American retired bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. Robinson was elected bishop coadjutor in 2003 and succeeded as diocesan bishop in March 2004. Before becoming bishop, he served as Canon to the Ordinary to the VIII Bishop of New Hampshire. Robinson is widely known for being the first priest in an openly gay relationship to be consecrated a bishop in a major Christian denomination believing in the historic episcopate.[note 1] His sexual orientation was privately acknowledged in the 1970s, when he studied in seminary, was ordained, married, and started a family. He went public with his sexual identity and divorced in 1986. He entered a formal relationship with his current spouse in 1988. When delegates to the Episcopal convention were voting on the ratification of his election, it became an issue of controversy. His election was ratified 62 to 45. After his election, many theologically conservative Episcopalians in the United States abandoned the Episcopal Church, formed the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and aligned themselves with bishops outside the Episcopal Church in the United States, a process called the Anglican realignment. His story has appeared in print and film. In 2009 he was given the Stephen F. Kolzak Media Award. In 2010 he announced his intention to retire in 2013, at 65. His successor is A. Robert Hirschfeld, who was elected bishop coadjutor on May 19, 2012, and consecrated bishop in Concord, New Hampshire, on August 4, 2012. Hirschfeld served with Robinson until Robinson's formal retirement on January 5, 2013.