FIRST OPENLY GAY EPISCOPAL BISHOP DIVORCES HUSBAND

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FILE - In this photo released by the Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop V. Gene Robinson are shown during their private civil union ceremony performed by Ronna Wise in Concord, N.H., in this Saturday June 7, 2008 file photo. Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop, announced Saturday May 3, 2014 he is getting divorced from Andrew. (AP Photo/Episcopal Dioceses of New Hampshire, File)

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- The first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church has announced he is divorcing his husband.

Retired Bishop Gene Robinson announced that he is divorcing Mark Andrew in an email to the Diocese of New Hampshire Saturday and an article for The Daily Beast.

The coupled entered into a civil union in 2008 that converted to a marriage when New Hampshire legalized gay marriage in 2010.

His election in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church created an international uproar and led conservative Episcopalians to break away from the main church in the United States.