gay bishop divorces partner

(RNS) Bishop Gene Robinson, whose 2003 election as the first openly gay Episcopal bishop rocked Anglican Communion, has announced his divorce from his longtime partner and husband.

Robinson, who retired in 2013 as the Bishop of New Hampshire, and his partner of 25 years, Mark Andrew, were married in a private civil union in 2008. The announcement was made public Saturday (May 3) in a statement to the Diocese of New Hampshire....
“It is at least a small comfort to me, as a gay rights and marriage equality advocate, to know that like any marriage, gay and lesbian couples are subject to the same complications and hardships that afflict marriages between heterosexual couples,” Robinson wrote.

Opponents of gay marriage may pounce on Robinson's action as proof that the whole gay marriage effort was corrupt/unchristian/unnatural from the outset. But those same opponents are unlikely to reflect on the divorce rate or dysfunction among heterosexuals.

I think Robinson is right and, moreover, is helping to write a new chapter in the gay marriage book: Gay or straight ... get married, get divorced ... and get back to more substantive business.