He has a name …

THE NEWS ITEM "Division looms for the Episcopal Church" (July 25) reports that Episcopal bishop V. Gene Robinson "lives with a male partner." One must wonder whether the "male partner" is an actual homo sapiens and whether he actually has a name. One must also wonder how long the two have been together. It would be accurate to have given the full name of the bishop's partner and said, "He lives with Mark Andrews."

It would have been even more accurate to have said: "Bishop Robinson has been in a 20-year relationship with Mark Andrews, a local health professional. The two became partners three years after Bishop Robinson came out and divorced. The divorce was 'friendly,' and Robinson's former wife and his children supported and campaigned for Robinson's election as the democratically elected Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire."

The story as reported in the CENTURY dehumanizes and demonizes both Robinson and his partner, Mark, as well as all the rest of us, straight or gay, who felt that the story was insulting.

Thom Prentice

Gethsemane Lutheran Church, Austin, Tex.

COPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Century Foundation
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning