Towleroad Guide to the Tube #996

BISHOP GENE ROBINSON: On why religious people should support the 99 Percent movement.

PANDA ALARM CLOCK: It's wet and it stinks.

ANITA WHO? Fred Karger launches boycott of Florida orange juice.

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE II? Kids show some sword skills while grandma looks on.

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Gene Robinson: "Christians Should Stay Away From Spiritual Arrogance"

Openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson flew to his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, this weekend to speak to a local church about his journey.

Addressing an audience at the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Bishop Robinson lamented the ongoing use of Christianity to justify anti-gay initiatives, and told the crowd: "I think Christians should stay away from spiritual arrogance and show more love, mercy and zeal for justice."

The Bishop, whose 2003 election to become Bishop coming out shook Episcopal congregations around the world, continued, “I believe that there's a positive role for religion in the world, and we've already seen what not to do."

All too many times...

Gene Robinson: Anglican Archbishop is Alien to Me

Gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson criticised Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams (above) for failing to take a stronger position on the rift over women and gays that is driving the Anglican church apart.

"I pray for him every day. I have clergy friends who literally studied at  Archbishop Williams'  feet and who have said to me it is almost as if aliens have come and taken Rowan away from us. They have left something that looks like him but we don't recognise him any more. I'm not at all sure that his attempts to hold us together as a communion at all costs is the kind of leadership that this time calls for."

News: Mr. Gay USA, Art, James Blunt, The Vatican

Europe's oldest gay gay and lesbian film festival, which has been around for 25 years, will run from November 27 - December 5.

Mr. Columbia, SC crowned Mr. Gay USA.

Members of the Campaign Against Homophobia beaten after his arrest by Polish police.

Ryan Gosling is a mama's boy.

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church failed to show up for a previously announced protest of a production of The Laramie Project in Santa Ana, CA. That might have had something to do with the tires on their bus being slashed.

James Blunt thinks he saved us all from World War 3.

Hate on campus at community college in Oregon: "a poster at an Albany community college that contained hateful words about gays and lesbians was fraudulently attributed to the college's diversity center in an apparent protest of the center's sponsorship of a gay-rights film."

What makes Rev. Gene Robinson an effective leader is the way that he has dealt with his struggles in life.

Gay Top Chef contestant Dale Levitski talks about life after the show.

First openly gay fraternity comes to Indiana University.

Smithsonian art exhibition titled "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture," is the "first major museum exhibition to focus on sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture."

Openly gay Briton detained in Syria, where he runs a shop with a shrine dedicated to Oscar Wilde.

Robert Pattinson goes for a dip in his skivvies.

The woman whose voice you hear on the subway train has never actually ridden the subway since she started that job.

The Vatican has banned an Irish Catholic priest from writing after he called homosexuality “simply a facet of the human condition."

Bishop Gene Robinson To Retire In 2013

 
Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, announced today to New Hampshire's diocesan convention that he will retire at the end of 2013. It appears as if the decision was made primarily due to the negative attention he has received from all over the world since his historical election in 2003. The reason for the lengthy time period, he explains, is to allow for what he refers to as "a smooth and unhurried process of transition, for the diocese and for (himself)." 

The New York Times reports on the unexpected news:

The news took some by surprise because Bishop Robinson is an energetic 63-year-old, and mandatory retirement age for Episcopal bishops is 72. He has led a relatively stable and healthy diocese, despite predictions by some that his election would undermine the Episcopal Church in New Hampshire.

The reason to depart, he said in a speech delivered at the close of the annual convention of his diocese, is that being at the center of an international uproar has taken a toll on him and on the diocese.

“Death threats, and the now worldwide controversy surrounding your election of me as bishop, have been a constant strain, not just on me, but on my beloved husband, Mark” and on Episcopalians in the state, he said.

But those who know Bishop Robinson say he has no intention of retiring from public life. His status as a symbol in the international gay rights movement means that after he steps down, he will have no shortage of platforms from which to preach his message that God blesses gay relationships too. (Through a spokesman, he declined interview requests.)

Read the Bishop's full speech to the diocesan convention, AFTER THE JUMP.

Bishop Gene Robinson to Bullied Gay Teens: 'God Loves You The Way You Are'

The Episcopal Church's first gay bishop Gene Robinson promises gay teens that it gets better, AFTER THE JUMP...

Love how he strategically calls out the Catholics, the Mormons, and the Southern Baptists for their hate-mongering.