From the center-right politics website Politico:
The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected the Episcopal Church’s first openly gay bishop in 2003, will deliver the invocation for Sunday’s kickoff inaugural event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the Presidential Inaugural Committee said.
President-elect Obama is scheduled to attend the afternoon event, which is free and open to the public.
“The president-elect has respect for the Rt. Rev. Robinson, who offered his advice and counsel over the past couple of years,” an inaugural official said. “It also has the benefit of further reinforcing our commitment to an open and inclusive inaugural.”
This event will have virtually no symbolic import compared to the inauguration itself, the invocation at which will be delivered by Rick Warren, whose global network of "400,000 ministers and priests" fights science education, sexual and reproductive health education, and civil rights for gays and lesbians.
(Photo: Bishops surround Robinson during the consecrative prayer at his 2003 consecration as the 9th bishop of the diocese of New Hampshire.)
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