Gay bishop rejects attack by Tatchell

-20/10/04

The gay U.S. bishop at the heart of the dispute between liberals and conservatives has rejected criticism by gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, who described the Windsor report issued by Anglican's on Monday as "homophobia".

New Hampshire bishop Gene Robinson said Tachell's comments were "inflammatory".

Peter Tatchell described the report of the Lambeth Commission on Communion, set up by the Archbishop of Canterbury following the row surrounding Gene Robinson's consecration, as "undisguised homophobia more typical of a fascist party than a supposedly Christian organization."

In an interview for the Reuters news agency however, Robinson said Tatchell's comments were; "unfair and unnecessarily inflammatory."

"I don't see that at all" he said.

The bishop continued. "This report is as respectful of gays and lesbians as anything I have ever seen."

During the interview Bishop Gene Robinson welcomed the Windsor Report and again expressed regret for the pain his consecration last year had caused parts of the Anglican communion.

"I am thankful for the report for its tone and for its offering all of us a way forward. I think the real import of this document lays out ways in which we can remain in communion with one another," Robinson said.

He said the report's one deficiency was its failure to address the suffering endured by gays and lesbians in the church.

"The report would have been stronger had it noted the considerable pain and oppression that gay and lesbian people have been the recipients of from the church, and called for an expression of regret from those who contributed to that" he said.

"I am not in any way offended or insulted by this report - quite the contrary. I feel very positively about (it)," Robinson said.

"It is saying loud and clear that the decision the American church made about my consecration has indeed caused disruption and pain around the Anglican Communion and that we ought to express our regret over that," added Robinson. "I have already done that and will continue to do that."

Robinson said the report was notable because it did not condemn either his consecration as a bishop or his sexuality.

The New Hamshire bishop was also unapologetic about his appointment.

"The report does not say that the decision should not have been made. I was not asked to resign, I was not asked to repent, I was not told I was unfit matter for ordination," he said.

When the Report was published, accounts in the media suggested that the document called for an apology. Statements from pressure groups issued on the same day as the 100-page report was published, also suggested that those involved in Gene Robinson's consecration were being called upon to apologise.

The Windsor Report however, does not use the words "apology" or "apologise" anywhere in its pages.