Six conservative congregations that also oppose Robinson invited the
five bishops from outside the diocese without required approval from
Ohio's Bishop J. Clark Grew II. They do not accept Grew's leadership
because he voted for Robinson.

Robinson, a Lexington, Ky., native, was speaking to reporters before a
ceremony to receive the annual Leadership Award from the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest U.S. gay rights organization.

Plans to provide special bishops for dissenting congregations like
those in Ohio are the top issue at a meeting of the nation's Episcopal
bishops that opens Friday in Texas.

Robinson said he supports a plan from the head of the denomination,
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, to allow visiting bishops with
permission of the regular resident bishop, as provided under current
church rules.

Conservatives have already declared that plan unacceptable and warn
there could be further Ohio-style disobedience if the bishops' meeting
does not provide an absolute right to be led by outside bishops they
consider acceptable.

Robinson's consecration has provoked a severe dispute in the Episcopal
Church and even more so in the international Anglican Communion, of
which the U.S. denomination is a part.

Robinson said he is "very open" to allowing visiting bishops in his own
New Hampshire diocese, so long as he continues to make periodic visits
to dissenting congregations and the visitor does not "try to undermine
my authority" or "take the congregation out of the Episcopal Church."

The award from the task force showed the degree to which Robinson has
become a symbol for the nationwide gay movement.

Task force Executive Director Matt Foreman said Robinson's elevation
ranks in significance with recent steps toward same-sex marriage in
Canada, Massachusetts and several U.S. cities.

"He is a hero to our community," Foreman said, not only for becoming a
church bishop but for "the way in which he has conducted himself in the
face of vitriolic attacks."

As a gay celebrity, Robinson was also named "Person of the Year" by The
Advocate, a gay periodical. And he was featured last week in a segment
on CBS' "60 Minutes" that included a visit to a New York gay bar.

"I have this double life," he remarked. "I'm not the gay bishop in New
Hampshire. I'm just the bishop."

END