Gay Bishop's Invocation Missing from HBO's 'We Are One' Concert

It seems in HBO land 'We Are NOT One' ... at least not if you are lesbian or gay. HBO not only omitted the invocation by Bishop Gene Robinson, but neglected to introduce (or identify) the Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus while they were onstage. What's up with that HBO?

Joe.My.God writes:

After days of controversy and outrage from the religious right, openly gay Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson opened Barack Obama's inauguration concert on the National Mall today with a request that the nation pray for "understanding that our president is a human being and not a messiah."

But only the people AT the concert heard that, because HBO did not televise Robinson's message. Who engineered this blackout of Robinson? I suspect we'll hear lots about this in days to come.

UPDATE: The 7PM rebroadcast of the show was identical, no Gene Robinson.

UPDATE II: The full text of Robinson's prayer is here. If you'd like to express your unhappiness to HBO, you can do that here.

President-elect Obama included gays when talking about various groups that comprise the fabric of this country. So what's the story HBO?


** UPDATE **

Here is what you missed if you only saw the concert on HBO:



**UPDATE 2**

The rebroadcast of the HBO special "We Are One" now includes the invocation by Bishop Gene Robinson. We the people were heard!

Ellen DeGeneres Calls Sally Kern

Go Ellen!!

Aging and gay, and facing prejudice in twilight

One look at this beautiful woman's face was all it took for me to want everyone to hear her story. The New York Times reports on aging and being lesbian or gay -- and facing discrimination. Here is just a sample of what you will find:

Jalna Perry, a 77-year-old lesbian and psychiatrist in Boston, is out, she said, but does not broadcast the fact, which would feel unnatural to someone of her generation. Dr. Perry, who uses a wheelchair, has spent time in assisted-living centers and nursing homes. There, she said, her guard was up all the time.

Dr. Perry came out to a few other residents in the assisted-living center — artsy, professional women who she figured would accept her. But even with them, she said, “You don’t talk about gay things.” Mostly, she kept to herself. “You size people up,” Dr. Perry said. “You know the activities person is a lesbian; that’s a quick read.”

Trickier was an aide who was gentle with others but surly and heavy-handed when helping Dr. Perry with personal tasks. Did the aide suspect and disapprove? With a male nurse who was gay, Dr. Perry said she felt “extremely comfortable.”

“Except for that nurse, I was very lonely,” she said. “It would have been nice if someone else was out among the residents.”

No one should have to live their twilight years in fear ... or surrounded by bigotry.