Clearly Barack Obama and his legion of inauguration planners have registered the gay community’s dismay over the selection of the Rev. Rick Warren to deliver the inaugural invocation on Jan. 20, as Obama has tapped the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson to lead the prayer session at an event two days prior.


The New York Times:

The move was seen among many gay advocates an antidote to Mr. Obama’s decision to give the Rev. Rick Warren, a prominent megachurch pastor from California who opposes gay marriage, the high-profile role of giving the invocation at the inaugural ceremonies on Jan. 20.

Bishop Robinson is the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, and his consecration in 2003 set off a growing rift in that church’s parent body, the Anglican Communion. Since then, Bishop Robinson has become an internationally known spokesman for gay rights — a hero to some and an object of scorn to others. He and his long-standing partner had a church wedding last summer.

Bishop Robinson said in a telephone interview on Monday that he believed that his inclusion in inaugural events had been under consideration before the controversy over Mr. Warren, but that Mr. Obama and his team were also seeking to heal the pain that Mr. Warren’s selection had caused among lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates.

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