Gay Bishop Gene Robinson to help kick off Inauguration week

Gay Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson will play a major role in the kick-off to Barack Obama's inauguration.

Robinson (who figured prominently in the excellent documentary For The Bible Tells Me So) will deliver the invocation at the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday, January 18 (which will be attended by the President-elect), and in a weekend e-mail had a special message for his supporters:

“I am humbled and overjoyed at this invitation, and it will be my great honor to be there representing the Episcopal Church, the people of New Hampshire, and all of us in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community."

I'm sure I'm not the only one who wonders if this has something to do with the whole Rick Warren debacle, but according to the article, officials insist that this decision was made before the Warren fiasco.

If that's true, then why wasn't it announced earlier, when it may have helped diffuse the situation? Or maybe it wouldn't have helped anyway? Does this news affect your feelings about the Warren invitation, or is it too little, too late?