Right Rev V. Gene Robinson speaks at Chautauqua Institution July 26

from Chautauqua Institution.

Retired Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson will speak at Chautauqua Institution Hall of Philosophy July 26 12-4PM.

The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson was elected Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire in 2003, becoming the first openly-gay and partnered priest to be elected Bishop in historic Christendom. Robinson was consecrated bishop and served as IX Bishop of New Hampshire until his retirement in early 2013.

Among his writings is "Transgender Welcome: A Bishop Makes the Case for Affirmation," using Scripture and theology to argue for the full inclusion of transgender people in the life of the church/synagogue and in American society, In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God (Morehouse, 2006) and God Believes in Love: Straight Talk about Gay Marriage (Knopf, 2012), and co-author of three AIDS education curricula for youth and adults. He is the subject of two feature length documentaries: Daniel Karslake's For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) and Macky Alston's Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning Love Free or Die (2012).

He has been honored by every national LGBT organization and in 2014 was named by the Washington Post as one of the 21 most influential LGBT people in Washington. In addition to being a popular speaker in the U.S. and abroad, he writes opinion columns on a variety of topics for The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, and Time.com.

A regular guest at the White House during the Obama presidency, in 2009 President-Elect Barack Obama asked Bishop Robinson to offer the invocation at the opening inaugural event at the Lincoln Memorial, in Washington, DC. He has advocated for debt relief for the world's most impoverished nations, lobbied for socially-responsible investment within and beyond the Church, and had a special ministry to those incarcerated in New Hampshire's prisons. Since his retirement, Robinson has been serving as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, a progressive think tank in Washington, DC, speaking and writing on national and international LGBT issues, race, poverty, and immigration reform.

Bishop Robinson will assume the new role of Vice President and Senior Pastor of Chautauqua Institution effective September 1, 2017.

Information: www.ciweb.org 716-357-6250