Gay Us Bishop Plans Civil Partnership Ceremony

The openly gay US bishop whose appointment threatened to split the global Anglican church has said he hopes to hold a civil partnership ceremony with his long-time partner soon.

Gene Robinson, the Episcopalian bishop of New Hampshire, said he wanted to have both a civil partnership ceremony with Mark Andrews, his partner of more than 18 years, and also a religious blessing.

The governor of New Hampshire, John Lynch, is expected to sign a bill next week allowing same sex civil unions in the state, which would come into effect at the start of next year.

"We need to separate the civil rights from the religious rites," Bishop Robinson told the Reuters news agency.

"Religious people and religious organisations who are not yet ready to offer the church's or the synagogue's blessings on such unions might be supportive of full civil rights for this country's gay and lesbian citizens."

The bishop's actions threaten to reignite bitter divisions over attitudes to homosexuality within the church which threaten to see the 70 million-strong Anglican communion split down the middle.

His ordination as the church's first openly gay bishop in 2003 enraged conservative Anglicans, notably in some African countries.

A report into the affair, ordered by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, called in late 2004 for the US Episcopalian church to apologise for its actions and pledge not repeat them, or else consider leaving the Anglican communion.

The ordination of Bishop Robinson "caused deep offence to many faithful Anglican Christians", the Lambeth Commission said.

The bishop, a 59-year-old divorced father of two, praised New Hampshire for allowing civil unions, but suggested it could go further and follow Massachusetts, the only US state where full gay marriage is legal.

"It won't be full equality until it is equal," he said.