( New York, February 10, 2016 ) — Lambda Legal announced it has elected the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson to service on its Board of Directors. Bishop Robinson is well-known nationally and internationally as the first openly gay and partnered Episcopal Bishop after he was elected Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003. Currently, Bishop Robinson is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC. In addition, Dallas attorney Tracey Guyot-Wallace has been elected co-chair of the national board.
"Bishop Robinson's election and ordination as the first openly gay Episcopal Bishop marked an important step forward in this country's acceptance of full equality for LGBT individuals and families, and we are delighted to welcome him," Lambda Legal Executive Director Kevin Cathcart said. "Bishop Robinson's courage in the face of backlash he experienced upon his election, and his steadfast advocacy for full civil rights for the LGBT community then and since were an inspiration for which he has been honored by Lambda Legal and other national organizations."
"I'm also delighted that Tracey has agreed to serve as co-chair of our national board," Cathcart added. "She has demonstrated a keen commitment to equality for LGBT people and people living with HIV throughout her career, including as a Lambda Legal board member and, before that, serving on our Dallas Leadership Committee, and I look forward to the energy and perspective she will bring as co-chair."
After his election, Bishop Robinson was the focus of national and international efforts to derail his ordination. He was consecrated a Bishop on All Saints Sunday, November 2, 2003, and was invested as the Ninth Bishop of New Hampshire on March 7, 2004. His story was featured in the 2007 feature-length documentary, "For the Bible Tells Me So," and his book In the Eye of the Storm: Swept to the Center by God was published in 2008. In 2012, he authored God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage contributing to the national debate about marriage equality, and a feature-length documentary on Bishop Robinson's ministry, "Love Free or Die," premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Special Jury Prize.
Robinson graduated from the University of the South in 1969 with a B.A. in American Studies/History. In 1973 he completed the M.Div. degree at the General Theological Seminary in New York, and was ordained deacon and then priest in that same year. He is the co-author of three AIDS education curricula for youth and adults, and has done AIDS work in the United States, Uganda and South Africa. He has also been an advocate for antiracism training in his diocese and the wider church. Robinson helped build the Diocese of New Hampshire's close working partnership with the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund, advocated for debt relief for the world's most impoverished nations, and lobbied for socially responsible investment within and beyond the church.
"For more than 40 years Lambda Legal has made a tremendous impact on the nation through its litigation, advocacy and outreach on behalf of the LGBT community and those impacted by HIV," Bishop Robinson said. "I believe in their work and am honored to join the board of directors to ensure that Lambda Legal's vision of full recognition of the civil rights of the LGBT community and all who experience discrimination is realized."
Tracey Guyot-Wallace is a partner in the law firm of Jackson Walker, LLP. Her practice focuses on the defense and trial of complex cases in federal and state courts. She has represented a broad range of state, national, and international clients in the full spectrum of employment matters. She has also drafted manuals and policies for companies, and trained employees. Her labor counseling and representation involves the National Labor Relations Act ( NLRA ) and Railway Labor Act ( RLA ). Guyot-Wallace has served on the Lambda Legal national board since 2012.
