Gay and transgender rights groups barred from a major U.N. AIDS conference opening Wednesday plan to defy the decision by joining other delegations at the meeting on ending the HIV epidemic.

Twenty-two groups were denied U.N. accreditation to attend the gathering after Russia, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Cameroon and Tanzania raised objections, drawing outrage from AIDS activists.

Of the 22 barred groups, 16 will join government and civil society delegations, leaving only six that will not be represented, said UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe.

The HIV epidemic has been forced into decline over the past decade, but about 36.7 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

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