Bishop Joseph Bvumbwe, head of the Malawi Council of Churches, says the leaders gathered Wednesday in the southern town of Mangochi to discuss homosexuality as an issue “most Malawians do not understand.”

Blantyre magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwa-Usiwa is scheduled to deliver a verdict Monday on Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, arrested and jailed since Dec. 26 after holding a public engagement ceremony.

Homosexuality is illegal in most sub-Saharan African countries. The arrests have outraged human rights groups and Western donors in Malawi, one of Africa’s poorest nations.

Michel Sidibe, the head of UNAIDS, said “it is unacceptable” that 85 countries still have laws criminalizing same-sex relations among adults, including seven that impose the death penalty for homosexual practices.

He called a proposed Ugandan law that would impose the death penalty for some gays “very unfortunate” and expressed hope it will never be approved.

At a time when UNAIDS is scaling up its program and seeking universal access to HIV treatment, Sidibe said he was “very scared” because bad laws are being introduced by countries making it impossible for these at risk groups to have access to services.

“You have also a growing conservatism which is making me very scared,” Sidibe added.

“We must insist that the rights of the minorities are upheld. If we don’t do that … I think the epidemic will grow again,” he warned. “We cannot accept the tyranny of the majority.”

Sidibe told a group of journalists at a luncheon hosted by the United Nations Foundation that in countries from China to Kenya and Malawi, about 33 percent of new HIV infections are in men having sex with men, a significant increase.

By contrast, he said that in the Caribbean where most countries don’t have repressive laws, only between 3 and 6 percent of HIV infections are in male homosexuals.

Even in the United States, where laws are not restrictive and the gay community was the first to tackle AIDS, Sidibe said it is “shocking” that more than 50 percent of new HIV infections last year occurred among homosexuals. And he said in the 19-25 age bracket the infection rate was even higher.

“It seems like we have come full circle” in the United States, he said. “After almost no cases a few years ago we are seeing again this new peak among people who are not having access to all the information, the protection that is needed.”

In addition to failing to adequately deliver the right messages about AIDS prevention, Sidibe blamed complacency in a new generation that has access to treatment.

He added that this was not just a problem in the U.S. but in Europe and in Africa as well.

Sidibe said drug users are also getting the HIV virus that causes AIDS in high numbers.

“You have 70 percent of new infections occurring in Eastern Europe and Central Asia among drug users, but they are criminalized,” he said. “They don’t have access to services. They have to hide themselves and go underground.”

Of the 16 million people in the world who are injecting drugs, almost 3 million are HIV positive, and among them less than 4 percent have access to treatment and less than 8 percent have access to services, Sidibe said.

“It’s the same for men having sex with men,” he said.

In Nigeria, where there are 1,000 new HIV infections every day, over 30 percent are in vulnerable groups – drug users, sex workers and homosexuals, he said.

Sidibe called for “a prevention revolution” including a campaign in major cities around the world like the anti-smoking campaigns launched in recent years.

Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was a guest of honor at the weddings of Judith Vazquez and Lol Kin Castaneda and the other couples who tied the knot in a city building, despite harsh criticism from the Roman Catholic Church and a campaign against the measure by President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party.

Vazquez, a 45-year-old small-business owner, and Castaneda, a 33-year-old psychologist, signed and put their thumb print on the official documents. Then they sealed their union with a kiss amid cheers from family and friends gathered in the colonial-era building’s courtyard, decorated with calla lilies, banners with the colors of Mexico’s flag and a sign that read “Tolerance, Liberty, Equality, Solidarity.”

“This is the mark of freedom,” said Vazquez, raising her thumb.

Vazquez said she and Castaneda have considered themselves married ever since they moved in together six years ago.

“The difference today is that the state will recognize it,” she said while getting her hair done at home before the wedding. “This is a victory for all. … For us this is a day of celebration.”

Mexico City’s legislature passed the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The legislation also allows same-sex couples to adopt children.

For now the law applies only to residents of Mexico City, though a marriage performed in one state must be recognized in the rest of the country.

“Today is a historic day in Mexico City,” said Judge Hegel Cortes, who officiated the weddings. “With the signing of these marriage certificates, we leave behind the traditional idea of a family and we allow for two people, regardless of sexual orientation, to get married.”

Thursday’s weddings are not the first of their kind in Latin America, although they are the first approved under legislative authority.

In December, two Argentine men were wed in a civil ceremony by a sympathetic governor and with court approval. But interpretations vary on whether Argentine law allows same-sex unions, and the question is now before that country’s Supreme Court.

Argentina’s constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to provincial officials. A law specifically legalizing gay marriage has stalled in Congress since October.

The new law in Mexico’s capital district, which is home to roughly 8 million people, has been closely watched in the United States, where same-sex marriage is legal in the District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire.

In New York, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force spokesman Pedro Julio Serrano cheered the milestone.

“People in the United States can look up to Mexico City and see a courageous legislature taking a stand,” he said. “It’s a model to follow.”

Federal prosecutors are attempting to overturn the law, which Mexico City lawmakers argue simply gives same-sex couples the rights that heterosexual couples have regarding social security and other benefits.

The Catholic Church has hotly criticized the law, especially its provision letting same-sex couples adopt children – something several couples said they are considering.

On Thursday, the Archdiocese of Mexico accused the city government of approving a “perverse and immoral law.”

“It may be legal, but it will never be moral,” spokesman Hugo Valdemar Romero said in a statement.

Outside the city building, about two dozen protesters held banners that read “one man plus one woman equals marriage.”

“A family is formed by a father and a mother,” said Teresa Vazquez, a 51-year-old homemaker and member of a group opposed to same-sex marriage. “And I don’t agree with their idea that a couple of two men is a family, because it’s not and it’s a bad example for children.”

“U.S.”

“And why are you in Canada?”

I paused. She looked up.

I was going to Canada to give a lecture, which would be easy enough to say. But then there would be the inevitable follow-up question: “A lecture on what?”

Instantly I thought back to a story once told to me by Glenn Stanton, my frequent debate-opponent from Focus on the Family. Just prior to Canada’s legalization of marriage for gays and lesbians, Glenn went there for a right-wing conference. When the border guard asked him, “Why are you in Canada?” he responded with “For a same-sex marriage conference.”

His border guard shot back, “We don’t need that shit here.”

After relaying the story to me Glenn added, “I thought to myself, what if it had been you, John?”

To which I responded, “Welcome to my world, Glenn.”

I live in Detroit, just next to Windsor, Ontario. I go there occasionally for dinner with friends, and most times the crossing is smooth. But if you happen to catch a border guard who’s having a bad day, or who’s on a power trip, or who’s just congenitally an asshole, be prepared for an unpleasant delay. I generally aim to give border guards all and only the information they absolutely need.

And yet a frequent theme in my advocacy work is the importance of coming out. Not just on National Coming Out Day, or at pride parades, or when writing columns for the gay press, but at any time when reference to one’s (actual or desired) significant other—or more generally, one’s life—would be appropriate. Coming out is an opportunity to teach diversity, and to be a role model for those around us and those who come after us.

More than that, it’s a chance for simple honesty: there’s something profoundly dehumanizing about treating one’s sexual orientation as a dirty little secret. I don’t want to be complicit in that.

So (for instance), last Valentine’s Day, when a Trader Joe’s employee presenting roses to female customers offered me one, saying, “Maybe you have a special girl at home to give this to?” I responded, “I’ll give it to my special GUY at home, thanks!”

Giving a diversity lesson to a Trader Joe’s employee is one thing; giving one to grumpy border guards is another. Military uniforms intimidate me more than Hawaiian shirts do. In the past, I’ve been harassed by Texas State troopers for kissing (yes, kissing) another man, and it wasn’t fun.

After that Texas incident, I filed a formal complaint, which resulted in the trooper’s being put on probation and having to take classes on Texas state law. I’m not afraid to stand up for my rights, but like most people, on some days I just don’t want to be bothered.

I admit I’m embarrassed to share these thoughts. It’s not just because of the great figures who have stood up for our rights even when it’s been inconvenient or dangerous: luminaries like Frank Kameny, Harvey Milk, Del Martin, Phyllis Lyon and Harry Hay. I’m sure even they had days when prudence trumped other virtues.

It’s because I was facing a CANADIAN BORDER GUARD, for goodness sake. They’re not exactly the SS.

So I’m embarrassed that the question gave me pause. But I share the story anyway, because it speaks to the tremendous power of the closet.

“Why are you in Canada?” She repeated the question, startling me from my deliberations.

“I’m giving a lecture at the University of Lethbridge.”

“A lecture regarding…?”

“Gay rights.”

Now she paused.

“Have you ever been to Lethbridge?” she finally asked.

“No.”

“Well, good luck with your talk.” Then, as she stamped my declarations form, she leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, “Really, good luck. It’s redneck country, you know.”

***********

John Corvino, Ph.D. is an author, speaker, and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. His column “The Gay Moralist” appears Fridays on 365gay.com.

For more about John Corvino, visit www.johncorvino.com.

Michel Sidibe appealed to government and private donors to keep investing in the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international financing institution. He said that cuts in donations will decrease the availability of free or subsidized life-saving drugs to African patients.

An estimated 94 percent of patients on anti-retroviral treatment in Africa count on external donor funds to provide their medications, Sidibe said.

“If we stop now, if we reduce the financing, the people who are on treatment today … we will transform their hope for universal access into a universal nightmare, because they will start dying,” Sidibe told The Associated Press Monday.

In South Africa, 920,000 people are currently receiving anti-retroviral treatment, just over half of the 1.7 million who need the drugs. New policies which will expand the reach of the program announced by South African President Jacob Zuma in December 2009 will also require increased financial resources.

South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said the country’s HIV treatment program is heavily dependent on external donor funding. An estimated 5.7 million South Africans are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, more than any other country.

The Global Fund’s “Results Report”, released Monday, described the substantial advances that have been made in AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria prevention and treatment since the fund’s establishment eight years ago, including the possible elimination of mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015.

“It is also now possible to imagine a world with no more malaria deaths,” said Michel D. Kazatchkine, the Global Fund’s executive director. In addition, tuberculosis prevalence in many countries is declining, and the Global Fund believes this could be halved by 2015. However, it cautions that the achievement of these goals is only possible if health programs receive increased investments as planned.

The Global Fund will meet in The Hague, Netherlands, on March 24 to examine how it can meet its goals eliminating or reducing instances of the three diseases by 2015. The group will present donor countries with three public health scenarios, based on amounts of funding ranging from $13-20 billion, for the period 2011-2013.

In October this year, the Global Fund will ask donors for financial contributions during its conference in New York. This will be the third time since the fund was established in 2002 that donors are being asked to replenish their finances. There is concern that the global economic downturn could negatively impact the funding commitments made by donor countries.

“The world’s investments are clearly making a difference,” Sidibe said, “but without a fully funded Global Fund, we would be putting the lives of millions of people currently on treatment in jeopardy.”

A delegation including Anglican priest Canon Gideon Byamugisha delivered the petition to Uganda’s parliament on Monday. Byamugisha says the bill teaches intolerance and hatred and is counter to the constitution’s anti-discrimination laws.

Speaker of Parliament Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk says the bill has been presented and soon will be debated.

The proposed bill has sparked protests in London, New York and Washington.

Uganda’s conservative society frowns on homosexuality. One proponent of the bill even showed gay pornographic videos in church to try to garner support.

“The court will meet on March 22 for judgment,” magistrate Nyakwawa Usiwausiwa said after a hearing, according to a report from AFP.

The couple faces up to 14 years in prison.

More than 30 nations on the African continent ban gay sex. Same-sex marriage is only legal in South Africa.

Or maybe from a couple of guys.

A left-wing party in Amsterdam is proposing that gay men replace the miniskirted women who traditionally kiss the winner of the first leg of the Giro d’Italia, one of Europe’s premier bicycle races, which begins May 8.

“It should be possible for gay men to celebrate with the winner,” said Fjodor Molenaar, an alderman from the Green Left party, which is part of the city’s governing coalition. One rider in 10 is gay, he said.

The idea is winning support in this notably tolerant city, which annually hosts one of the world’s most elaborate gay pride parades.

But Albert van der Meulen, whose television station is arranging the ceremony, said he’d rather have women on the podium.

“I don’t even think the race participants want to be kissed by men,” van der Meulen said.

The station has arranged a beauty contest March 5 to select two people to present the flowers to the winner of the Amsterdam leg. Most entrants are young women, but van der Meulen confirmed three are gay men.

The municipality of Amsterdam says it will support whoever wins.

“It’s an appealing proposal that fits well with the Amsterdam’s tradition of supporting gay emancipation,” said city spokesman Bas Bruijn.

Philip Tijsma of COC, a Gay and Lesbian activist group, also embraced the proposal.

“There are Moroccan lesbians in veils. There are gay teachers in Christian schools. There are soccer players who are bisexual,” Tijsma said. “So why can the glamour girls not be replaced by guys?”

Martin Ssempa showed the videos to some 100 adults during a church service Wednesday in Uganda’s capital.

He says he plans to show the films regularly to educate churchgoers on gay sex and also plans to show the videos to parliamentarians. He says some churchgoers cried after watching the videos, which he said he downloaded from the Internet.

Ugandan gay rights activist Julian Peppe condemned Ssempa’s decision to show pornography in church, saying he should be arrested and needs mental rehabilitation.

The proposed bill has sparked protests in London, New York and Washington.

The U.S. criticism came at a Tuesday debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council over Iraq’s human rights record, nearly six years after accounts emerged of U.S. torture at the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad.

U.S. representative Douglas Griffiths also said he was deeply concerned about the violence against religious minorities, gays, lesbians and women in Iraq.

Iraqi Human Rights Minister Wijdan Salim said her country was trying to improve the protection of human rights while handling the country’s difficult security situation.