Welby will also meet with ACNA Archbishop Bob Duncan at the end of May, according to a source close to the archbishop. It is not known what they will talk about. The Anglican Church in North America opposes the moral positions taken by The Episcopal Church that has embraced pansexuality, including openly gay and lesbian priests and bishops, and recently approved rites for the blessing of same sex marriage.

Welby said he would like to explain to Tatchell in private, "without the mediation of the press, and listen to you in return." He meets with Tatchell Thursday.

"I applaud the Archbishop's willingness to engage in dialogue - all the more so because he comes from the conservative evangelical wing of the church," Tatchell said. "I hope our meeting is not mere window-dressing and good PR for the church. I'm expecting more than tea and sympathy.

"I will be urging a rethink of the church's opposition to same-sex civil marriage and an end to Anglican collusion with the persecution of gay people in Nigeria and Uganda," he added.

"I plan to call on the Archbishop to embrace a new historic compromise with the gay community: that the church can continue to believe that homosexuality is wrong but will agree that homophobic discrimination is also wrong - and actively oppose it.

"Discrimination is not a Christian value. The Archbishop should therefore oppose all discrimination against gay people, including the ban on same-sex civil marriage."

Tatchell continued, "I am asking Archbishop Welby to make a clear distinction between what he and the church believe is morally wrong and the law of the land."

"While the Archbishop is entitled to reject homosexuality as unacceptable, in a liberal democracy he is not entitled to insist that his religious beliefs are legislated into law by banning same-sex civil marriage ceremonies."

"The Church of England's opposition to same-sex civil marriage is a direct and un-Christian attack on the human rights of gay people," Tatchell noted. "While Anglicans have every right to refuse to conduct religious gay marriages, they should halt their campaign against gay marriages hosted by civil authorities. The church should have no jurisdiction or veto over marriages in register offices.

"This is the first time any Archbishop has offered to meet me. Even a liberal like Rowan Williams never welcomed me to Lambeth Palace. Justin's invitation is progress.

"In 1997, 10 of us from the gay rights group OutRage. scaled the walls of Lambeth Palace and confronted the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, over his opposition to legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. This time I'm going to Lambeth Palace through the front door at the Archbishop's invitation. It makes a nice change."

END