Bishop Robinson: ‘God loves all God’s children’

By John Wright
The Dallas Voice

Bishop V. Gene Robinson says he believes that far from condemning gay people, the Bible can be a source of liberation for LGBT people, just as it was for African-Americans.V. Gene Robinson, who became the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church in 2003, will be at Dallas’ Black Tie Dinner in November to accept the 2008 Elizabeth Birch Award. Robinson sat down with Dallas Voice recently to talk in a telephone interview about his upcoming visit and other issues.

DV: You mentioned St. Thomas. Does it surprise you that even in a conservative diocese like this, that we have an openly gay rector, Father Steven Waller?

V.G.R.: No, it actually doesn’t surprise me. After all, what we say — which is, “We’re everywhere” — is true, and of course I don’t need to tell you, but Dallas has a vibrant and wonderful gay community. And, you know, the fact of the matter is the gospel talks about God’s love for all of God’s children, and there are going to be people who take that very seriously.I’m reminded that slaves were given copies of the Bible for the purpose of keeping them quiet and docile and subservient. The problem was, they read them. They read their Bibles, and that became the source of their liberation, and I think the same is true for gay and lesbian people.We’ve been told that the Bible is our enemy for a very long time, and that was supposed to keep us quiet and in the closet. But in fact if you read the Bible, I think there’s no other conclusion to draw from it other than that God loves us like God loves all of God’s children.

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