Gene Robinson, the first-ever openly gay bishop, has announced he’s getting a divorce from his partner of 25 years, Mark Andrew.
Robinson, who recently retired as the Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, was open and honest about the divorce in a letter he wrote for The Daily Beast.
“If God can bring an Easter out of that awful, long-ago Good Friday, then God can bring new life to me and Mark out of the pain of our parting company,” he wrote in part. “That is my faith, even if the pain of the present moment is too excruciating to envision what it might be. Mark and I will need, and welcome, the prayers of our friends and the support of our community.”
According to CBS News, in 2008, Robinson and Andrew entered into a civil partnership and when same-sex marriage was legalized in New Hampshire in 2010, they got married.
He made history in 2003, becoming the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church.