“NewsWrap" for the week ending August 9, 2008 (As broadcast on "This Way Out" program #1,063, distributed 8-11-08) [Written by Greg Gordon, with thanks to Rex Wockner with Bill Kelley] Reported this week by Christopher Gaal and Greg Gordon There was a significant focus on HIV prevention among gay and bisexual men at the 17th International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this week, where about 22,000 people met for 6 days to discuss how to combat the global pandemic. During his remarks opening the Conference, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that discrimination against men who have sex with men must end, noting that many countries fail to include that high-risk group in their prevention programs. According to the U.N., more than a quarter of gay and bisexual men in Africa and the Caribbean are already infected, where gay sex is mostly illegal. Several predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East also outlaw consensual adult same-gender sex. Peter Piot, the executive director of UNAIDS, the New York-based agency that coordinates care and research, told reporters that gay sex “is underground” in such countries, making it impossible to reach those men with prevention programs. Mexican President Felipe Calderon, former Botswana President Festus Mogae and President of St. Kitts and Nevis Denzil Douglas each called for an end to discrimination against gay men during a news conference at the meeting. < br> India’s Health Minister, Dr. Anbumani Ramadoss, said his country’s Penal Code Section 377, a remnant of British colonial rule that criminalizes “carnal sex against the order of nature,” should be repealed. A lawsuit challenging Section 377 is currently before the Delhi High Court. India’s Home Ministry, which controls the police, has opposed repeal. But the Health Minister said during his speech at the Conference that “discrimination against those who are vulnerable to HIV such as sex workers and men having sex with men must be removed if our prevention, care and treatment programs are to succeed.” India is believed to have the greatest number of HIV/AIDS patients in the world, an estimated 2-and-a-half million. Some 90 per cent of the estimated 33 million people around the world who are infected with HIV live in developing countries. But even in the U.S., new HIV infections among gay and bisexual men of all races have been increasing at alarming rates for nearly two decades, according to a new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC's National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, told reporters during an August 2nd tele-conference that “data among men who have sex with men point to an urgent unmet need." U.S. activists have long criticized so-called “abstinence-only” sex education programs as ineffective, and have d emanded more funding for HIV prevention programs specifically targeting young people. The global Anglican Communion’s once-a-decade Lambeth Conference also wrapped up this week, with no resolution of the Church’s internal struggles over the inclusion of lesbigay people in religious life. It didn’t help that traditionalists in the 77-million-member worldwide church consortium, primarily from Africa, Latin America and Asia, boycotted the Conference near London. They’ve been upset by the increasingly queer-welcoming actions of North American Anglicans, sparked by the consecration of partnered openly gay New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson by the U.S. wing of Anglicanism, the Episcopal Church, in 2003. The blessing of same-gender couples during the past few years by some U.S. parishes, as well as by several Canadian Anglican congregations, has fueled the fire. Bishop Robinson was not formally invited to the Lambeth Conference by the Communion’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams ostensibly to avoid further upsetting traditionalists bu but Robinson nevertheless generated considerable local media coverage at several “fringe” events he attended nearby. But because other queer-inclusive North American bishops would be there, more than 200 bishops of the 880 who were invited refused to attend Lambeth. Many of them met in Jerusalem in June to form what they called “a church within a church” not formally breaking away from the Co mmunion, but establishing an autonomous consortium of liked-minded Anglicans from among its 38 self-governing regions that oppose the ordination of women and openly gay clergy, and the blessing of same gender unions. Unlike previous Lambeth gatherings where resolutions were passed – notably in 1998, when one declared that homosexual activity was incompatible with Scripture some 650 bishops who did attend the Confereence met primarily in small groups. No formal debates or votes were held, nor any statements issued, including any addressing the contentious subjects of sexuality and gender. At a news conference on August 3rd, however, Archbishop Williams urged a halt to the further consecration of openly gay bishops, pointedly admonishing the Episcopalians. He also said the Church would be "in grave peril" if the U.S. and Canadian branches didn’t stop blessing same-gender couples. But “Reuters” reported that at least 5 dioceses in Canada that already perform those ceremonies would likely reject such a moratorium. Traditionalists were further angered by revelations in 2 British newspapers late this week that Williams had written letters in 2000 and 2001, when he was the Archbishop of Wales, supporting same-gender relationships, writing in one that faithful unions of such couples are “comparable to marriage” in the eyes of God. 19 bishops of the Church of England, from which Anglicanism grew around the world, quickly issued a statement defending William s, praising his work to ease tensions since assuming his role as the Communion’s spiritual leader, and for putting Church unity over what may still be his own personal beliefs. In the end, nothing was resolved at Lambeth and there’s beeen no word to date from the defecting bishops who boycotted the Conference - but some observers applauded the fact that formal schism has thus far been avoided. In other news this week, a record crowd estimated at 500,000 watched or floated literally as Amsterdam’s 13th annual al Pride armada wound its way along the canals of the historic center of the city on August 2nd. Several national and local politicians were aboard some 80 boats for the first time, while others also carried the usual assortment of scantily clad revelers. Gay men from the Dutch Antilles and Surinam also took part for the first time. Tens of thousands braved the rain in Brighton, England, also on August 2nd, for that city’s Pride parade. A decidedly damp collection of floats and marchers snaked through the streets towards Preston Park, where large crowds partied into the evening. Thousands also celebrated Pride in Belfast on the same day. But an allegedly deranged man with a hammer put a damper on the August 3rd Pride celebration in Vancouver, British Columbia. He attacked 9 people on a street crowded with revelers several hours after the annual Parade, which attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the area. Most of those injured were treated at hospitals and released. Two were kept overnight, but their injuries were reported to be relatively minor. A 31-year-old man, whom police said has had “several brushes” with officers over the past couple of years, faces numerous charges, including assault causing bodily harm and possession of a prohibited weapon. Three teenagers have also been arrested in the knife attacks against two gay men during last week’s EuroPride celebration in Stockholm. The suspects, who were denied bail, have been charged with assault causing grievous bodily harm, robbery, and committing a hate crime. After the gay couple kissed outside a convenience store, they were knifed by the teens, who yelled homophobic epithets during the assaults. One of the two victims is still in the hospital but is expected to recover. His partner was also hurt but didn’t require hospitalization. Two other men were beaten by 3 teens shouting anti-gay slurs earlier that week, but were not seriously injured. Their attackers were also arrested. The homophobic incidents didn’t stop an estimated 450,000 people from enjoying the EuroPride-capping Pride parade in Stockholm on August 2nd. Elsewhere, lawyers for the U.S. Olympic Committee have forced the Northwest Bears, a gay men’s social group, to change the name of its annual summer campout, according to a report in the Seattle, Washington newspaper “The Stran ger”. Attorney Carol Gross warned that the name "Kamp Kodiak 2008 'Olympic Village'" violated the USOC's "exclusive right to control all commercial use of Olympic imagery and terminology in the United States," and demanded that all such uses by the group end immediately. In a letter replying to Gross, Brendan McDonald, a member of the Bears group, expressed “bewilderment,” writing: "I was born in a small logging town on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State at Olympic Memorial Hospital. My family and I enjoyed spending vacations at Olympic National Park, where our favorite spot was the Olympic Hot Springs.” He talked about attending Olympic Community College, hiking in the Olympic Mountains, and living on Olympic Drive in Bellingham, “until I moved near Seattle,” he wrote, “where I enjoy having guests stay at its premier hotel, the Olympic Four Seasons." After assuring her that his group had removed all “Olympic” words or references from anything connected to their summer camp-out, he said “We are 100% clean, and now you can check us off of your hit list." And finally, the Federation of Gay Games, which organizes the quadrennial queer sporting event originally called the “Gay Olympics” until the USOC shot that name down issued a press re release this week saluting the eleven publicly lesbigay Olympians now competing in Beijing. They include German lesbian athletes in cycling, soccer, and fencing; 2 U.S. lesbian softball players and a lesbian soccer player; Norwegian lesbian partners in life and handball; a Swedish lesbian soccer player; and a gay Australian diver and lesbian tennis player. The Federation also invited them to the 8th quadrennial Gay Games in Cologne, Germany in late July 2010. It's time to go back to school! Get the latest trends and gadgets that make the grade on AOL Shopping.