Gene Robinson, an openly gay US Anglican bishop whose 2003 consecration has deeply divided worldwide Anglican Communion, says African critics who describe homosexuals as "worse than beasts" are using the kind of language once employed in the United States to justify slavery.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has said that the churches of the Anglican Communion must be safe places for gay and lesbian people.

Gay Christians in Nigeria are urging international action against a new repressive law which is being backed by the Anglican church in the country.