Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has yet to decide whether or not he'll invite openly gay Archbishop Gene Robinson to the Anglican Communion's September conference, but his unorthodox actions are definitely bolstering the religion's left.

California bishop Marc Andrus (pictured) has released a statement expressing his staunch solidarity with Robinson:

I will be seeking to learn how I can best be in solidarity with Bishop Robinson, through prayerful action.

The tactic of isolation and exile being employed against Bishop Robinson is retrogressive behavior that moves us towards a past from which Christ is always seeking to redeem us. I ask the people of the Diocese of California to pray with me about our common life with all of God's people and the earth.

Akinola leads the queer-hating crusade to control America's conservative Episcopal churches, which has successfully wooed a number of Virginia-based churches, including Bishop Martyn Minns' congregation.

Minns, meanwhile, will not be invited to September's festivities.

The ongoing Anglican Communion's queer internal struggle took a decidedly high school direction this week. Two of the most controversial American bishops have not been invited to next year's international Anglican Communion conference, according to the Archbishop of Canterbury's office.

Neither openly gay Gene Robinson, nor Bishop Martyn Minns - who leads a breakaway Virginia church aligned with anti-gay Bishop Peter Akinola. Secretary general of the communion, Canon Kenneth Kearon told reporters that while Robinson may get a last minute invite, Minns definitely off the list. Washington Post reports:

Robinson may be invited to attend the Lambeth Conference as a guest, but Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is not contemplating inviting Minns, Kearon said.

"The question of Gene Robinson ... I think has exercised the archbishop of Canterbury's mind for quite some time... However, for the archbishop to simply give full recognition at this conference would be to ignore the very substantial and very widespread objections in many parts of the communion to his consecration and to his ministry.

• Lisa Kudrow's a genius. The people who cancelled The Comeback are fools. That is all.

• Paris Hilton's dead, naked body never looked so educational. Artist Daniel Edwards has created a life-size sculpture to highlight the "disturbingly glamorized trend of Hollywood's girls gone wild", according to TMZ. In twenty year's time, Hilton's real body will be doing that on its own.

• Michael Lucas' former right hand, Heather "Reznor" Fink and her comedy troupe sure like meat. Especially in panties. And they say the porn industry doesn't fuck you up.

• Gene Robinson on New Hampshire's new civil union laws: "I think this moves us one step closer to the American promise to all its citizens of equality under the law. My partner and I look forward to taking full advantage of the new law." No more living in sin for those boys!

• Class Comics, Inc: totally NSFW gay superhero fun.

• Jim McGreevey and Dina Matos have "agreed" on joint custody of their daughter. Also, McGreevey's faggotry apparently is "not significant".

• Posh and Becks must be stopped.

• VH1 has made a career out of making New York's career.

• From PageOneQ: "[A] Bentonville, AR man is seeking $20,000 in damages and the firing of the town's top librarian, claiming his two sons were disturbed after stumbling upon The Whole Lesbian Sex Book in the town's public library." Only $20,000? Fuck, it's The Whole Lesbian Sex Book. That's a lot of information, definitely deserving of $25,000.

Episcopal leaders put their foot down Tuesday, insisting they will not endorse a new church structure to split the conservative and liberal congregations.

The American branch of the international Anglican Communion, the Episcopal church has been at odds with their pious peers ever since the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson's ascension in 2004.

Earlier this year, Episcopal president Katharine Jefferts Schori traveled to Tanzania to discuss the churches support for gay and lesbians and the ever-divisive issue of gay marriage. The combined conservatism of Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria and his like-minded peers proved too much, however, and the Americans were given six months to come up with a concrete decision.

And now it seems they have...

CONTINUED »

Conservative Reverend and president of the American Anglican Council, Canon David Anderson once said of openly gay Bishop, Gene Robinson, "His name will become synonymous with schism." While that may be true in the Anglican Church - which has been arguing over the place of gays in the international communion ever since Robinson's 2004 ascension - Robinson's hoping to bring the homos together.

In light of the recent Human Rights Campaign "scandals" (primarily, although not specifically, Andrew Sullivan's public and increasingly ugly war against the non-profit's practices), Robinson's come out in support of the movement, urging gay people to rally around the DC-based group.

CONTINUED »

Gene Robinson's never shied from controversy. The openly gay Archbishop of New Hampshire's 2004 ascension has led to a severe rift in the worldwide Anglican Communion, not to mention America's Episcopal Church. His recent comments on coming out, we're sure, will raise a fresh stink from detractors:

If you want to know my homosexual agenda, it's Jesus.

I feel that this is a real extension of what I've been called to do in the gospels.

And I would propose to you that peoples' coming out - gay and lesbian folk being honest about who they are, what their lives are, what their families are like, their desire to contribute to this culture, to serve in the military, to take their place as full citizens of this country - is God at work.

Gay bishop says coming out is God at work [Pink News UK]
My Homosexual Agenda is Jesus, Bishop Declares [Crosswalk]

CONTINUED »

Bishop Gene Robinson may not be as famous as Lance Bass, but he's certainly just as gay. He's so gay, in fact, that his 2003 ascension as New Hampshire's Episcopal bishop sparked the controversy that threatens the American churches relationship with the worldwide Anglican communion.

You may recall church leaders met recently in Tanzania, where the conservatives issued a stern warning to the more liberal American sect, insisting that the Yanks must agree not to ordain any more openly gay bishops and must stop blessing same-sex unions. With a deadline set for September 29, America's presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori implied that the church would comply, at least for a while. Robinson, however - he ain't having it.

How will we explain this 'forbearance' to all those gay and lesbian Christians who have come to the Episcopal Church because, for the first time ever, they have believed that there is a place for them at God's table, not simply beneath it, hoping for fallen scraps?
...
Does anyone believe that our full compliance with the primates' demands, our complete denunciation of our gay and lesbian members or my removal as bishop would make all this go away?

The Episcopal Church may not be in the best standing with the Anglican Communion, but that didn't stop Louisville's Bishop Ted Gulick from trying to increase his personal standing by expressing regret over his past votes. Speaking to his congregation, Gulick pledged his support to gay worshippers, saying:

I hereby publicly and deliberately apologize to our devoted gay and lesbian men and woman in our diocese for whom this (latest) vote causes pain and alienation... I know you to be my sisters and brothers in Christ. I thank you for your patience and forbearance with the church in this season.

We can't wait to see how he makes up for this one.

Anglican leaders will gather in Tanzania later this week to duke it out on the international churches most divisive issues, particularly the institution's stance on the homos. It will certainly be an eventful weekend, as more conservative leaders take a stand against Presiding Episcopal Bishop Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson. Of those leaders, Nigerian archbishop and virulent homophobe Peter Akinola's voice will undoubtedly be the loudest. Before Akinola wears out his vocal cords, however, a number of Nigerian activists are asking him to raise his fist against the African nation's proposed ban on homosexuality.

You may recall the long-dormant bill got a breath of fresh air a few months back, a resurrection Nigerian activists blame on the British-based Outrage! and other international gay rights organizations. Regardless of who's to blame, the discriminatory documents will effectively outlaw same-sex relations. In a list ditch effort, pro-gay Christian non-profit, Changing Attitude Nigeria has penned a desperate letter to Akinola and his allies.

CONTINUED »

Desmond Tutu's by far our favorite religious leader (sorry Gene Robinson). The outspoken Anglican Archbishop and outspoken civil rights figure has blasted Peter Akinola and his haterific homies for their tenacious war on homosexuality. As the Anglican Communion gears up for its annual meeting - a meeting at which Archbishop of Canterbury, will no doubt get an earful - Tutu chided:

I am deeply disturbed that in the face of some of the most horrendous problems facing Africa, we concentrate on 'what do I do in bed with whom'... For one to penalise someone for their sexual orientation is the same as penalising someone for something they can do nothing about, like ethnicity or race. I cannot imagine persecuting a minority group which is already being persecuted... The God I worship would not consider that (gay clergy) to be a priority concern.

CONTINUED »

While Alan Cumming and Grant Shaffer celebrate their homo matrimony, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams (pictured, looking every bit a lady) has been worrying over a possible Anglican schism.

As loyal readers of Queerty, you're well aware of the dramas facing the 77 million Christian coalition. Most recently, homo-hating Archbishop Peter Akinola enticed a number of US-based Episcopal churches to join his Nigeria-based camp. He and other leaders from the developing world have joined in opposition to openly gay Gene Robinson's 2003 ascension to Bishop of New Hampshire and the officiation of (gasp! a female!) Katharine Jefferts Schori as head of the US Episcopalians.

Just weeks away from an international Anglican meeting in Tanzania, Williams told Britain's ITV:

And because I am an ordinary, sinful human being, I fear the situation slipping out of my control, such as it is... I fear schism, not because I think it's the worst thing in the world but because, at this particular juncture, it's going to be bad for us. It's going to drive people into recrimination and bitterness.

We can't take it for granted that the Anglican Communion will go on as it always has been... Of course that's unsettling, of course that's painful for everybody, but there's no way of moving on without asking the hard questions.

Williams' statements come hot on the heels of a controversy concerning gay Church of England priests who have married without passing celibacy tests and wide speculation over his ability to lead the international group.

Damn, things sure are shitty for Williams these days. Our advice: have a spliff, take a bath and pray things work out for the best. If that doesn't work: convert to Satanism - then you'd actually have a chance in hell.

There may be some big changes ahead for two Virginian Episcopal branches. In response to openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson's 2003 ascension in New Hampshire, officals in Virginia are considering breaking away from the American branch of the Anglican Church. Rather than associating with what they feel to be too liberal a church, leaders from The Falls Church, in the City of Falls Church, and Truro Church, in Fairfax City are looking to affiliate themselves with the religion's Nigerian branch.

The Washington Post reports:

If the votes at The Falls Church and Truro succeed, as their leaders predict, the 3,000 active members of the two churches would join a new, Fairfax-based organization that answers to Nigerian Archbishop Peter J. Akinola, leader of the 17 million-member Nigerian church and an advocate of jailing gays. The new group hopes to become a U.S.-based denomination for orthodox Episcopalians.

You may remember that Akinola's a virulently outspoken opponent of gays, spouting some of pretty vile anti-gay rhetoric, such as called queers "a cancerous lump in the body [which] should be excised if it has defied every known cure." (Rude.)

Worth a combined $25 million, the churches risk losing everything if they split. It's also worth noting that our first President, Mr. George Washington, practiced at the Fairfax church. Upon hearing of the vote, Washington promptly turned over in his grave.