In 2008, the Anglican Communion met in Lambeth, England for their decennial conference. All consecrated Bishops were invited to the assembly bar one, New Hampshire's Gene Robinson. As the Communion's first (and only) gay bishop, not only was his invitation withdrawn but he was actively and forcibly prevented from participating in any part of the conference (including, in one farcical scene, entering Canterbury Cathedral). Unwavered, Robinson journeys to the UK to publicise his forced isolation, speaking at fringe events around the Conference.
Seen as a microcosm of the wider's gay community's struggle for acceptance, Robinson's battle against the odds is fitting. He is in a long-term, stable relationship with his partner, is a loving father to two daughters (from a previous marriage) and has the blessing and love of his own parish, yet continues to both suffer abuse for his way of life, and come up against scriptural barriers to gay progression in the wider Anglican community. Whilst there is a sense of inevitability about the Church's acceptance of a homosexual lifestyle, it still takes courageous and strong-willed advocates like Robinson to drag them into modernity, kicking and screaming if need be.
If one aspect bothered me, it was that aside from calm, if disjointed, excuses from Archbishop Rowan Williams and the tearful explanation of a female Bishop, the question of marrying Robinson's agenda with scriptural authority is not explored in any depth. Director Macky Alston's point may be that Robinson's story is about what is morally right, rather than scripturally acceptable, but when the opposition points so obstinately to Biblical scripture, their case requires addressing.
That said, Love Free or Die is still a powerful proponent of a good cause, and if it succeeds in ensuring the Anglican Communion stays in touch with the reality on the streets, all the better. Robinson's charisma and enthusiasm is infectious, and if his faith were shared by more of his Episcopal or Anglican brethren, the Church would not be seen as the backward, slow-moving institution that many (including Robinson) consider it to be.
