Robin Hawley Gorsline

Robin Hawley Gorsline is a theologian, poet, and former Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) pastor active in movements for racial, ecological, and queer justice. They were raised in rural Michigan, where their parents were active members of the local Episcopal church and their father ran a tree nursery. After receiving a degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan, Robin became the youngest Township Supervisor in Michigan state history at the age of 22. It was through their work as Town Supervisor that Robin met their wife, a local teacher.

Robin, their wife, and their two children moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1981 so Robin could complete a Master of Divinity degree at Episcopal Divinity School (EDS). It was here that Robin’s third child was born, and here that Robin first encountered a queer community, including fellow students and professor Carter Heyward. Exposure and access to this community helped Robin come out as gay and they and their wife were divorced in 1985.

Also in 1985, Robin moved to New York to complete their Doctorate at Union Theological Seminary, which they finished in 1999. Their dissertation, "Bearing Witness to the Dark: Anti-White-Supremacist, Pro-Same-Sex(es), Pro-Feminist Theologizing in Queer Modes," drew on the works of James Baldwin and Audre Lorde and explored a positive understanding of the dark--those of us, and those parts of us, society compels be hidden away. During this time, Robin also worked in administration for the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. They were involved with a Brooklyn chapter of the Radical Faeries, through which they met their husband, Jonathan Lebolt, who introduced Robin to MCC.

After finishing their Doctorate, Robin began to apply to pastorships. They were accepted as pastor at MCC-Richmond and moved to Virginia in 2003. Spurred by their sense of justice and the experiences of their congregation, they also cofounded People of Faith for Equality in Virginia (PoFEV) in 2005. As a leader of PoFEV, Robin traveled throughout the state and lobbied the government of Virginia on behalf of LGBTQ Virginians, advocating especially for marriage equality. They and their husband led a yearly demonstration for marriage equality at the Richmond courthouse on Valentine’s Day.

Robin currently lives near their youngest daughter and grandchildren in New Jersey with their husband and their goldendoodle, LoLo. In their writing they focus on Earth and the Universe, understanding all beings as connected in sacred community, including plants, which transcend the gender binary by having both male and female parts. They serve as queer poetic eco-theologian in residence at MCC-DC, engaging theologically not just with humans but with the whole natural world. They are also the Director of Environmental Justice at the Global Justice Institute, having been offered the role after encouraging the Institute to become more active on environmental issues.

Over the years, Robin has felt at times more feminine and at others more masculine, leading them to recognize that they are both. This aligns with their sense that gender is less fixed than our cultural systems insist.

Robin’s writing can be found in volumes such as Queering Christianity (2013), The Queer Bible Commentary (2022), and Disrupting White Supremacy from Within (2004), which they co-edited. They also maintain a Substack called The Faithful Heretic.

(This biographical statement written by Lynn Kusmin from an interview with Robin Hawley Gorsline on June 20, 2025 and this article, “Supporters of same-sex couple rally before appeals court case” Winchester Star, May 14, 2014.)

Biography Date: July 2025

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