Washington D.C., Jan 12, 2009 / 16:44 pm
President-elect Barack Obama’s Inauguration has already seen consternation amongst homosexuals over Obama’s selection of Rick Warren to deliver the invocation. However, today it was made public that openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire will offer a prayer on Sunday to open the inauguration events.
On Monday an anonymous source from the Obama team told Politico that Bishop Robinson had accepted an invitation to kickoff the inaugural ceremonies with a prayer on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
With President-elect Obama in attendance, Bishop Robinson will help launch Obama’s “We are One” string of ceremonies. In an email to friends, Robinson said that he is “humbled and overjoyed at this invitation, and it will be my great honor to be there representing the Episcopal Church, the people of New Hampshire, and all of us in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.”
An Obama aide told Politico that the plans to feature Robinson were in place “before the complaints about Rick Warren. Many skeptics will read this as a direct reaction to the Warren criticism – but it’s just not so.”